A total of 45 containers of vegetable oil and 11 other containers of used clothing and foreign tomato paste have been seized by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at the Onne port in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The 56 containers, valued at a duty-paid sum of about N5.5 billion, were seized according to the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi.
Mr. Adeniyi disclosed this on Tuesday while presenting the seizure at the Onne Port, saying the consignments were falsely declared as plants, spare parts and machinery.
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He stated that the 45 containers of vegetable oil, each containing 1,050 25-litre jerry cans with a duty paid value of N4.252 billion, were among the seizure.
According to him, the Customs Service also seized nine 40-foot containers of assorted used clothing with a value of N1.046 billion and two 20-foot containers of foreign tomato paste worth N232 million.
The Customs CG said the seizure came as a result of intelligence and risk analysis of importers whose consignments had been routed through the Onne port to free trade zones and other economic zones.
He said the investigation uncovered the alleged manipulations of concessions given to businesses operating in the zones.
“Over the last few months, the command in Onne has been in the process of reviewing the operations of some goods that are imported through Onne ports but are destined for some free trade zones and other economic zones in the country,” Adeniyi said.
The Customs boss said the concerns were that concessions and waivers of duties introduced by the Federal Government to support local production and facilitate trade were being allegedly manipulated to deal in illicit activities.
Adeniyi noted that recently, the Cross River/Akwa Ibom Area Command had intercepted two 40-foot containers of vegetable oil, which he said were initially intended for the Calabar Free Trade Zone but were allegedly diverted.
He said the Customs Service had information on about 40 other containers of vegetable oil that were transferred to the Calabar Free Trade Zone and would investigate to know if the consignments had reached the zone.
The Customs boss said the agency would interrogate the officials of the respective free trade zones, customs officers, importers and other relevant parties involved in the clearance and transportation of the consignments.
Mr. Adeniyi said the investigators would also scrutinize the customs documents, landing certificates and utilization records of the imported vegetable oil in the production process.
The Customs boss announced that the 56 containers unveiled at the Onne port were seized for allegedly contravening sections 55 and 233 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023.
He said the service would commence court processes for condemnation and final forfeiture of the consignment.
The Customs CG directed the legal unit of the service to prosecute importers, agents, shipping companies and other relevant persons found to have participated in the alleged offence.
In addition, he ordered a comprehensive audit of the containers for which customs processes were suspended and transferred from the ports to the Tinapa Free Trade Zone.
According to him, no further transfer of the containers to the Tinapa Free Trade Zone would be allowed until all the containers transferred earlier were appropriately tracked.
Adeniyi said the enforcement was to ensure the protection of government revenue, public health and the domestic producers as well as compliance with the local production policy of the Federal Government.
He said large-scale importation of goods that could be produced in the country would affect the domestic producers, agriculture, employment and the Federal Government policies on local production.
The Customs boss urged importers and other port users not to use the ports and free trade zones for deals that could impede the ease of trade and development of the national economy.
The Customs CG felicitated with the Port Harcourt II Area Controller, Comptroller AM Alkali and his officers for the seizure, and appreciated the media for the collaborative efforts.
