Dangote Cement constitutes bulk of export 1’2021

As Jibo post N409 since reopening of Seme border

The Seme Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has handed over 232 parcels of Cannabis Sativa otherwise locally known as Indian Hemp to officials of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.

This is even as the customs command recorded trade volume of N348, 827,775.00 metric tons of exported goods with free on board, FOB, value of more than N4.2 billion, with Dangote Cement on top of the export chart, since the reopening of the land border in January 2021, the Customs Area Controller, CAC, Comptroller Bello Mohammed Jibo, disclosed. Jibo put the export NESS Value at over N21.3 million

According to the CAC, the seized narcotic substances is among 705 other items seized by the area command since the reopening of the border, with a total Duty Paid Value of over N409million.

While handing over the illicit substances to officials of the NDLEA, Jibo said that the Indian Hemp has a street value of over N2.9 million, noting that the feat was a result of the command’s sustained tempo in the fight against smuggling.

Head of the NDLEA team at the handover ceremony, Mr. Udotong Noah, thanked the NCS and eulogized Jibo and his management team for the effort, noting that “it takes a lot of integrity to insist that the right thing is done. The Controller may have come under pressure to release this substances but he did not.

“We are grateful to the Customs Service and assure them that we will follow up with investigation to identify the smugglers and see to their prosecution.”

Speaking on the activities of the command for the first quarter 2021, Jibo put the sum of the command’s total of seizures and revenue generated at N490, 626,431.36. He listed the seizures to include 98 smuggled vehicles, 5, 568x 50kg bags of foreign par boiled rice, 3208x 25litres Jerry Cans of Premium Motor Spirit and 294 cartons of frozen poultry products.

Other items seized by the command include 798 cartons of tomato paste, cartons of sugar, 19 cartons of non alcoholic wine, cigarettes, soap and some sacks of condoms, noting the customs are always ready and prepared to give smugglers and economic saboteurs a run for their worth.

“This landmark achievement is an indication that officers and men of the command are not losing their guards in detecting and stemming the tide of the nefarious activities perpetuated by daredevil smugglers” he said, adding:

“In the wake of the federal government announcement on the reopening of land borders, the command harnessed all revenue components in line with the new operational guidelines with a view to project revenue base of the command in the facilitation of legitimate trade.

Also, the command remitted a total of N80, 774,807.22 into the federation account during the period under review. The collection was from 0.5 per cent ETLS, one per cent NESS, baggage assessment and the reassessment of the trapped trucks.

Jibo said the command was yet to receive imports from third countries in view of disputes associated with clearance procedure between importers, agents from Nigeria and the Benin Republic authorities, including shipping companies.

The Seme Customs boss thanked the Comptroller General of Customs, Col Hameed Ali (retired) and his management team for the positive support to the command in realizing its potential performance, saying  the command benefitted from the leadership different welfare packages.

This according to him include the construction of 32, 30 and 16 man ranks and file barracks accommodation to ameliorate personnel accommodation issue. He also announced ongoing renovation of Deputy Comptroller’s quarters, in addition to the completion of the command’s newly upgraded terminal designed to accommodate consignments in the event the available private bonded terminal is unable to handle the volume of consignments coming into Nigeria at any particular time.

Jibo noted the positive support the command have continued to receive from the host community and to express its appreciation, built a pavilion of toilets and modern bathrooms at the Seme J4 International Market, Badagry West Local Government Area as part of the NCS social corporate responsibility. The convenience is provided with power and running water.

To further foster good community relations, Jibo said the command is partnering with an NGO named Community Football Foundation for the establishment of a football club named Badagry United. He said the club has already been registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission and the Oba Akran of Badagry De Wheno Aholu Menu-Toye was recently presented with the certificate of Grand Patron of the club.