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Customs seizes 3,665 vehicles worth N13.164bn Duty since 2015 – Ali

By on October 6, 2017

The Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd) on Thursday  said 3,665 vehicles have been seized between 2015 and 2017 with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N13.164 billion.

Col. Ali said this when he delivered a lecture on ‘Problems of smuggling and its consequences on the Nigeria Economy: The way out’ at the IBB International Golf and Country Club in Abuja.
Ali who gave the breakdown of the seizures said in year 2015, 1,917 vehicles were seized with DPV of N3.856bn; another 1,483 were valued at 2.683bn were seized in 2016.
In 2017 so far,  265 vehicles have been seized with DPV of N6.625bn. The CGC said the high value recorded this year was because most of the vehicles were of high values with 15 bullet proof vehicles.
For 2017, 135 were seized in Zone A, Lagos;  93 others seized in Zone B – Kaduna, and 37 vehicles in Zone C Port Harcourt with none in Zone D, Bauchi.
The Customs boss who gave an update of 18 vehicles seized in Abuja recently over non Duty payment said 13 were bullet proof vehicles of which 10 have no Customs papers.
Ali who decried the menace of smuggling said Nigeria imports about 70% of our needs and that 45% of all imported goods are smuggled and that lack of patriotism among the traders and complicity of Customs officers had added to the problem.
He noted that the four arms’ containers intercepted this year were concealed with many cases of under declaration and diversion of imported goods.
“Over 85% of traders are not trustworthy as they falsify documents except for about 5% of them who can be trusted and often have their goods clearer within 48 hours,” Ali said.
On the challenges of the Nigeria Customs Services (NCS) in fighting smuggling, he said the Service lost three officers this year.
Ali said Customs under him is being sanitized as most of them are no more corrupt and that “90% of our officers are now imbibing the culture of doing the right thing.”
He urged members of the public to help report corrupt officers so the 10% corrupt ones can be fished out, adding that traders must be patriotic and stop inducing Customs officers to fast track clearance of their goods.
Captain of the Club, Mr Sunday Ameh lauded the Customs boss for honouring the invitation to give club members insight on the menace of smuggling.
Chairman of the Club, General Ibrahim B. M. Haruna also expressed his gratitude for the lecture saying Col. Ali has performed impressively.
[Daily Trust]