The Nigeria Customs Service, Port Terminal Multiservices Limited Command, has disclosed that it collected N239bn in revenue between January and September.
In a statement on Sunday, the command’s Public Relations Officer, Muhammad Yakubu, revealed that the revenue was 29 per cent or N53bn higher than the N185bn that was collected at the same time in 2023.
The Customs Area Controller in charge of the command, Tenny Daniyan, said the command made seizures worth N28m within the period under review.
Daniyan added that the command also intercepted some arms and ammunition, including two pistols, 260 ammunitions, empty shells and cartridges of different types concealed with imported vehicles.
He explained that a 40-foot container with registration number ACLU9664782, carrying 2,598 pieces of used motor tyres, six pieces of used fridges, eight pieces of used rug carpets, two pieces of used mattresses, and two bags containing used clothes, shoes and bags, was intercepted.
He added that the duty-paid value of the container was N8.1m
The CAC added that another 40ft container with registration number ACLU9810594 and a duty paid value of N6.5m carrying different contrabands, including bags of foreign parboiled rice and vegetable oil were also intercepted.
Daniyan mentioned that 12 rounds of 9mm Luger FC Blank ammunition and one 9mm Luger live ammunition were discovered from one used MAZDA CX5.
“10 rounds of NIM FC 30-30 blank ammunitions, two rounds of 7.62mm x 39 AK hollow ammunitions, three rounds of WCC NIM Luger 9mm live ammunition, and four rounds of C hollow ammunition extracted from one used Toyota Tacoma,” the CAC stated.
According to Daniyan, another 50 rounds of 76mm live cartridges and 109 empty shells of 76mm, 70mm, and other calibres were recovered from one used Toyota Tacoma valued at N6.98m.
“51 rounds of 12GA Winchester live cartridges extracted from one used Lexus RX350 valued at N1.29m. One made in China SIGSAUER 1911 pistol with serial No. U03130962526 was extracted from a used Toyota Sienna,” he explained.
He added that one Glock 22 Austria pistol with serial No. KNTO03 and 13 rounds of 9mm hollow ammunition were recovered from one used Toyota Tacoma with DPV of
N5.3m.
“Five rounds of 12GA live cartridges extracted from one used Toyota Tundra,” he stated.
The PTML Customs boss added that those arms and ammunition were yet to be handed over to the relevant agency.
“The duty paid value of the arms is N28m and a total of three suspects were detained in the respect of these seizures and have been granted administrative bail,” he said.
He explained, “Showcasing the seizures is to inform all users of PTML about the readiness of our officers to seize without compromising any items that are in contravention of the extant regulation due to the command’s zero tolerance for such.”
Meanwhile, he said that a 40ft container with registration number ACLU9664782 containing some of the seized items was handed over to the Nigeria Environmental Standards and Regulation Enforcement Agency as directed by the Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi.
The CAC said the arms and ammunition were under critical investigation before the formal handing over to the appropriate authority.
“Within the period under review, our trade facilitation and ease of doing business strategies have been sustained with our record-breaking two-hour clearance time for compliant roll-on-roll-off cargoes,” he said.
Daniyan mentioned that an efficient and accessible dispute resolution committee had been strengthened and working harmoniously to regularly brief the CAC to quickly resolve all trade disputes.
He added that the committee contributed immensely to the success recorded during nine months.
