22 Freight Forwarders on the Run Over Password Fraud

Six chief executives of  freight forwarding agencies  have been arrested by the   Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)  for allegedly using the passwords of  three officers in the rank of Assistant Comptrollers  to exempt their  containers from being scanned at the ports.

Thisday checks at the port showed that 22 of the freight forwarders are on the run as   the Tin Can Island Customs Command where the fraud was committed could only arrest six, out of 28 of them involved.

It was gathered that  three Customs Assistant Comptrollers  are being investigated on the same issue.

The freight forwarders allegedly  used the  passwords of the  comptrollers to reroute  their Single Goods Declaration (SGD) forms  from red  to green lane.

Under the customs reform,  SGDs on green lane which belong to big time corporate organisations and manufacturing  companies,  enjoy express delivery as against those on red and yellow which are physically examined   and scanned  at the ports.

By rerouting  any SGD  through the  green lane, the  intension of the  importer or the freight forwarder  is to  evade  either physical examination or scanning  for obvious reasons.

This has a lot of security implications.

The Area Comptroller of Tin Can Island Port Customs Command, Mr Austen Warikoru,    confirmed to THISDAY that     six of the 28  freight forwarders  alleged to have been involved in the crime  have been arrested.

He  said that the rest, 22 of them  are yet to show up,  more than three weeks after the  Command placed a notice  inviting  them to appear to explain their involvement in the matter.

Warikoru also  said that three senior  officers of the customs in the ranks of controllers   have been invited to Abuja Headquarters to explain their roles in the scam.

He however assured      that all the containers and vehicles  involved in the fraud  have not left the port.    When asked  to comment on the likelihood that the issue was a  case of connivance, the Comptroller said he has no  opinion, insisting that investigation will reveal what happened.

On measures that the Command has taken to address such  problem in future, he disclosed that officers have been called and advised  about how to keep their  passwords secret. He also disclosed that the systems where  the fraud was committed have been  discovered.

Source : Thisday