The Nigeria Customs Service has accused unscrupulous importers and clearing agents of culpability in a recent case of container theft and diversion, saying that four containers that were recently on transit to Kaduna Inland Dry Port (KIDP) Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Kano are still missing.
Zonal Coordinator in charge of Zone ‘A’, Lagos, Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) Aminu Dahiru who raised the alarm also said that the service has begun a process of unraveling the cases of ammunition import through the Tin Can Island Port last week.
He said that the service has launched an investigation into the whereabouts of four containers on transfer which were cleared from Apapa Port to the Inland facilities in Kano and Kaduna, saying it would descend heavily on any importer, customs agent or officer of the service who has any connection with the missing containers.
According to him, checks by the service show that nobody exited four of the six containers while only two were accounted for at the terminal, an indication that four of the six containers are missing or have been diverted, under what he described as controversial circumstances.
He also disclosed that the zone is trying to unravel the circumstances surrounding some containers that left the Tin Can Island Port, also in Apapa, Lagos, which were later found in a private warehouse instead of the terminal the containers were designated for.
It was further gathered that some containers also got missing about six years ago, precisely in 2012, when the ACG was a Deputy Comptroller serving at the Tin Can Island Customs Command, a development the ACG has described as one too many.
The ACG warned that in the face of deliberate diversion of containers on transfer, the service would have no other option than to introduce a system whereby the bond paid on containers on transfer by the consignee would be the exact value of the container, as some corrupt people are taking the magnanimity of the service for granted.
He said: “There have been several issues on the transfer of containers to terminals in Kano and Kaduna, among several others and in several cases; agents are seen as major culprits in these matters. Recently six containers left Apapa Port for a terminal in Kano. On our checks, we discovered that nobody exited the four containers that had already left. When we also contacted the terminal, we discovered that only two arrived to my greatest surprise”.
“There were also movements of containers from the Tin Can Island Port, Apapa, the said containers did not arrive the terminal they were designated for rather, we traced them to a private warehouse. Definitely we cannot continue like this, I can assure you because this is lawlessness and no society thrives on lawlessness.
“We may be compelled to reintroduce payment on loss of cargo on transfer. For some time now, bond is never close to the value of the consignment and we may likely begin a review of this bond issue, which I believe has become very important and imperative, especially at this time”.
While warning that agents should be careful with what they do with their licenses, he however noted that there have been cases where the licenses of some agents were blocked for crimes they did not commit, which made him direct that the affected licenses be unblocked, warning that the service will not fail to wield the big stick where it has been established that a license was used in compromising trade processes.
He urged importers and their agents to keep their records and processes neat and straight, hinting that the service would re-invigorate its post-clearance audit unit, while warning that the long arm of the law must catch up with those who subvert the system whether now or in the future..
Source: http://shippingposition.com.ng/main-news-291 |
