By Stephen Ubanna

For much of March and earlyApril, 2018, Olayiwola Shittu, who, until Saturday, April 14, 2018, was president , Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, and his successor Tony Iju Nwabunike, a pioneer Chairman of the Council for  the Regulation of Freight Forwarders in Nigeria, CFFRN,  were said to have set in motion the machinery for handing of power to the incoming president of the Association. The duo were said to have  set up an inauguration Committee to handle the assignment.

The duo were also said to have met  at different times on the way forward for the Association. The fallout of the meetings was the Culmination  of the handover of the insignia  of office of the President of ANLCA  by Shittu, the former President to Nwabunike on Saturday , April 14, 2018. in a The ceremony  attracted   people from all works of life, including Aminu Dahiru, , Assistant Comptroller General  in charge of Nigeria Customs Service, Zone A, Lagos, who represented  Hameed Ali, a retired Colonel and the Comptroller General. and Gani Adams,  Aare Onakakafo, the  Yoruba traditional war General .  The insignia  formally  confirmed Nwabunike as the  president of ANLCA, for the next four years. It was the first time since the establishment of  ANLCA  by an Act of parliament in 1954 that power is shifting from an elected President to another  elected President without rancour or Court cases.

As a prelude to the swearing in of Nwbunike, the new President , Dahiru, who was  the representative of the Comptroller General, was given opportunity to give his goodwill message. The Customs Zonal Coordinator, however, saw it as an opportunity to lambaste the  importers with their agents over their crooked ways of doing business at Nigeria ports, airports and land border stations, pleading with them to support. H e  promised a level playing field to stakeholders and support to the new leadership of ANLCA. Going back the memory lane, he alluded that he knew Shittu, the outgoing president and Nwabunike, the incoming , when he was  a Deputy Comptroller in-charge of Enforcement, Tin-can Island port in 2012. He has a good sense n of humour forcing the people to laugh repeatedly.

Appealing to agents to reduce the friction with officers, he cautioned  them to make genuine declarations,  correct Classifications and Valuations of their imports  as well as reduce alterations to their import documents.

He had recalled of the robust relationship between the Customs and  agents which had existed over the years,  urging the  new leadership to Endeavour to sustain it as both Customs and agents need each other  to remain relevant. He is right . The Customs collect the duties and other relevant charges at the seaports, airports and land border stations while the agents are the ones that that pay the duties and the other charges by serving as a go-between importers and Customs . There was absolute silence  as agents turned to look at one another. The look in their faces show that they were  all guilty of the crime.

The agents may have heaved a sigh of relief when  Adams, Aare Onakakanfo  fired back at  the Customs Authorities over its high tariff on imported goods, urging the government to reduce to encourage  more imports of cargoes into the nation’s  seaports.

He pleaded with the ACG to  take their complaint to Ali,  who in turn should take it up with Kemi Adeosun, the Minister of Finance to force the government to reduce the tariff  on imported goods. The Aare  lamented that many Nigerians in diaspora who were used to shipping vehicles and other goods from contributions in their places of work may have been discouraged to continue in the business because of this outrageous  tariff .

He  fears that if nothing is fast done urgently to ameliorate the situation, most of these Nigerians in Diaspora may become liabilities to their parents, brothers and sisters at home as they may be forced to be sending  money to them to feed and meet  up  other daily expenses.  The speech by the Customs ACG and Are Adams may have  opened the floodgate  for other speakers to shower praises on Shitu for his outstanding leadership.

Until , he handed over to Nwabunike on Saturday, April 14, 2018, ,  shittu was at the helms of affairs in ANLCA for eight years, having been elected  in Portharcourt in 2010. Indeed, the encomiums that were showered by members of the Association including  a foremost agent , Nze Anyamene and the  President of the Customs Brokers Association of Liberia, who came with a high powered delegation to witness the handover ceremony speaks volume, of Shittu’s influence  beyond the shores of Nigeria.

The former ANLCA President who was regarded in Agents circles as the father  of the Association  and a bridge builder beyond the shores of Nigeria was said to have been honored with the Liberia Coat of  arms to show their appreciation of his works in the country. The  representative  of  the Liberia’s Brokers Association, Toby, was said to have sent greetings from the  government to him, stressing  that they would want him to come over to Liberia to continue the Brokers business if he  did not find Nigeria suitable for business any longer.

He revealed that with the initiative of the former ANLCA president, they were already working on the establishment of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Brokers Association, with the implementation of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme, ETLS and Common External Tariff, CET, in the region.

Toby, the president, of the Liberia s brokers Association is optimistic that Nwabunike will continue from where his predecessor  stopped to see to the realization of the dream of the formation of the ECOWAS Brokers Association.

Earnest Elochukwu, a foremost agent based in Portharcourt and former acting president of the Association during  its period of crisis, who was said to have technically handed over to Shittu in 2000, described the change of baton in ANLCA as a” celebration of successful leadership”.

Appealing to the Anambra state born ANLCA, president to take a cue from the former President of the Association, Elochukwu explained that it is the only way to guarantee him a successful tenure  instead of doing things that would polarize the Association.

He urged him to use the talents in the Association  wherever  could find them , no matter the Political divide. ”You are not in Competition with any person, follow  what the Constitution of the Association stays, galvanize agents to do what you want them to do as you were elected to project ANLCA, He warned the ANLCA  president, do not turn yourself into  a dictator   but  see yourself as an” obedient servant of the agents”.

Eyewitness account disclosed that there was a standing ovation when Shittu stood up to talk.  ”I knew a day like this will come’, he reportedly said. I have a retirement countdown application in my phone which was counting my days in office and when the time was ripe me to go, i the alert rang, he further said.  The former ANLC president was said to have urged those in a position of leadership to know that a day like this would come for their retirement to start preparing for it from the first day  in office.

In a voice laden with emotion, Shittu was said to have told the audience that ”in the journey to leadership, there would be a lot of betrayals , noting that  in the beginning the leadership may be owned  by a section of people who may claim to have master-minded his election and therefore no person has the right to question the rule of the majority now”.

Philosophically speaking, SShittu said, ANLCA is an evolving project that would outlive every member”.  The former President may have had his support to Emmenike Nwokeji,  to succeed him  because of his loyalty.

It is not surprising why Nwabunike  declared  on his inauguration day that there  is ”no victor no vanquished, remind one of the statement  credited General Yakubu Gown, a former Head state, while making his broadcast after the surrender of Biafra in January, 1970. He pleaded with members  to support the support the new EXCO ”to keep the vision  mission  of the Association  alive”.

he may have spoken what the agents would want to hear when he rolled out his plan for the Association in the next four years: Development off a befitting Brokers village with the State of the art training facilities, ancillary services  such as conference centre and Clinic . This is in addition to a hotel that would be built in the Brokers village , he said .

this may sound ambitious , establishment of Chartered Institute of Brokers, but the new ANLCA  boss has promised to pursue it to its logical conclusion. H e has made the registration and  Conferment of the status  of a Chartered Institute of Customs Brokers as one of major plants of the Administration to ‘develop a Certification  training programs for members to improve  service delivery, standardization of operations and processes,” thus making ANLCA a truly professional body.

By stephen Ubanna

Barely three years after President Muhammadu Buhari  initiated fiscal policy measures to boost export of made in Nigeria goods and Agricultural products, the much expected balance of trade between Nigeria and its trading partners in Europe, North America, Asia and  East Africa  is yet to be achieved.

This is evident going y the weekly export and import report at the nation’s premier, Apapa, cited by the Magazine last Friday, April 13, 2018 at the port.  The record showed that in one week alone, Nigeria exported Cocoa beans, rough wood, Indomie,  Seasonals and approved  Agricultural products to the Asian countries of China and India, United States, Netherland, Belgium-Luxemburg the traditional trading partners .

Given an insider information of the total goods , bother manufactured and Agricultural products  loaded into Containers, both ”20” and ”40” that passed through the port to Asia, Europe, North America and African trading partners between January and March 2018, Nkeiruka Nwala, an Assistant Superintendent of Customs and the Command Public Relations officer,  in a Statement confirmed that  the Command recorded a total of  about 280,000 tonnes of various exports with a total Free On Board, FOB, value of 115.09 million dollars.

Henry Clime, General Manager,  ports and Terminal Operators, Nigeria Limited, PTOL, attributed the low cargoes export from the country to the traditional trading partners to the fact that Nigeria exporters cannot compete  in the international market because of  the high cost of handling the Commodities earmarked for export in the country’s seaports, warehousing and automated method of loading.

Clime cited Ghana and Cote D’ Ivoire, where the estimated cost of handling a  palm kernel cake vessel of Gross Registered tonnage of 2, 861 is $23.64 per tonne covering Stevedoring, trimming, haulage , warehousing and shifting from the warehouse to the shipside. He disclosed that in Nigeria, exporters pay as much as $30-$35 per tonne for the same services.

The PTOL  General Manager stressed that there is need for  the systems and logistics in the nation’s seaports to be critically examined  for improvement to reduce the  cost of shipment to make the  country’s exporters Competitive in the International Commodities market.

The Magazine learnt that within the particular week in question, 3,500 imported Containerized cargoes passed through the port. It was gathered that out of the 3, 500 Containerized cargoes imported through the port ,about 2000 Containers , were transferred to the bonded terminals under the supervision and control of the Command.  The fallout of the high import volume through the ports and other ports within the country may have been much talked about of the increased revenue collection by Customs formations throughout the country to meet the target set for it by the government this year.

Clime had made it clear to those that care to listen that ” a country that does not export but  depend only  on imports as a major source of revenue  is doomed to suffer economically and not make progress. This is the common thread that run through the ports, Customs Commands  celebrating  the huge import duties  collected for the government  at the ports. From Apapa, Tincan Island, Onne, Port Area 1, Port multiservices terminal limited, PTML, Kirikiri lighter terminal, Ogun, Oyo, Kaduna/Katsina, the story is the same: celebrating import duties collection , if the monthly target is met or surpassed or better than the amount collected within the same period  in the previous year.

Jibril Musa, the  Apapa Command  Comptroller confirmed  that  the  collected and paid into the Federation Account about  N82 billion covering duties on imported cargoes, 7percent Port Development Levy for  the Nigeria Ports Authority, 5percent tax for federal Inland Revenue Services, FIRS,                . one percent Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme, NDDC levy and other charges  for other government agencies.  The Impressive revenue collection of Apapa Command within the first quarter of 2018 was not different from the declaration of other Commands. Take the case of Tincan Island Command.  Baba-Musa M.A. , the Comptroller disclosed that the Command  generated  about N77  billion in first three months of 2018.  The  amount , according to Uche Ejesieme, a Deputy Superintendent of Customs and the Command Image maker was about N15 billion higher than the amount of revenue collected by the Command within the same period last year. The Command , under the then Comptroller, described in Customs as a Computer guru was said to have collected for the government a total Sum of  N 61 billion.

Ejesieme attributed the improved revenue collection of the Command  despite low  volume of cargo import  through the port to the ”innovations and reforms”, introduced by the Comptroller” towards rejigging and re-engineering  the consciousness of  the officers / men of the Command towards enhancing  efficiency and productivity  in line with the statutory mandate of the to collect revenue for the government.

The Comptroller, who is a World Customs Organization and World Trade Organization, Valuation and Classification expert , from the outset had introduced the Time Release Study , to remove the bottlenecks associate with trade facilitation at the ports.  The policy measures  put in place, based on the time release study appears to have facilitated the timely release of cargoes through the port with the government time of 48 hours and less, if the importer make the correct declaration .

Aminu Dahiru, an Assistant Comptroller General and NCS,  Coordinator, Zone A, Lagos, disclosed  that most importers experience problem in the release of their cargoes at the port because of false declaration, incorrect Valuation, alteration to import documents, noting that if they could make the correct declaration, they  are have o reason not to take deliveries of their imports within the 24 hours set by the government. This is because Comptrollers at the seaports, airports and land border stations, he said, are working round the clock in implementing the Presidential order  on the ease of doing business in the country to attract more cargoes into Nigeria ports.

The reasons adduced by Dahiru for importers  major problem with Customs officers may have been responsible for  the duely  released Containers  from Apapa, Tincan  or Port multi-services terminal limited, PTML, which fell  into the waiting hands of Comptroller Muhammed Uba Garba led Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A, Ikeja, Lagos Roving team between January and March 2018.

In January , alone , the Customs Enforcement Unit was said to have recovered about N91.34 million from Containers that were released from the ports  which fell into the waiting hands of the Command Lagos Roving team. This is revenue that could have been lost both for the vigilance of Muhammed’s men on the road. Two Containers , that could not be asses because of the level of fraud involved were said to have been seized by the Command. The  first Container,  a 40”,GATU132358/4, according to Muhammed was seized for false declaration. The Container, the Comptroller said was found to be carrying 537 cartons of India Whisky as against yeast declared in the SGD form by the Importer.

Many had expected other importers  with their agents to have learnt their lesson from what happened to collegues to do the right thing , but instead they perfected new strategies to cheat the government through wrong classification, transfer of value  and underpayment. This may have resulted in the good number of Containers released from the ports  which was intercepted by the Command Demand Notice, DN, raised after re-examination. The Command was said to have recovered for the government  through the DN raised on the intercepted Containers  about N68 million within the moth. The situation was also not different in the month of March.

An aggrieved Muhammed  was not happy that importers and their agents were not ready to change their bad attitude of doing business because of amount recovered from them for the government.  He confirmed that  the Command recovered  over N166 million for the government and seized four Containers for contravention of the government fiscal measures.

Given an insider information , he disclosed that were ”40” and  a ”20”.  The Container no. of the seized ”20” was CSNU 106087/4. It was found to have carried  2,260 cartons of  Gonca Spaghetti  that was made  in the European country of Turkey and an additional 530 package of energy  drinks  made in another European  country but falsely declared  as baking powder by the importer in the SGD .

one of the seized ”40”, Container no. PCIU86505/1, was said to have been seized for carrying  200 cartons of ladies shoes, 134 cartons of children’s own as Computer keyboard declared  in the SGD.  The second, ”40” Container no. FCIU80992/0 was said to have been seized for carrying  2,300 cartons of tiffany crunch and cream biscuit as against  Tapet  for fuel  pump complete  that was said to have been declared by the importer. Indeed, a common crime  was said to have been committed by the importers whose Containers were seized: False declaration. The question on the lips of most people is: can importers and their agents ever learn  from the mistakes of their colleagues who had lost both the duties paid and their goods to government? .” Only the importers can answer it, an officer remarked”.  There is no gain saying the fact that releasing officers at the various Customs Commands and terminals in Lagos are guilty of  collaborating with fraudulent agents to cheat the government  going by  the good number of Containers intercepted by FOU , Zone A, personnel, and transferred to the Command for re-examination. the Headquarters Strike Force have further exposed the rots at the ports by the millions which it had also recovered for the government in less than one year of its operations in Lagos. The job of the Customs Strike Force to track goods released from the port without going through proper  import process with the back of the Customs Information Communication Technology, ICT , center at Apapa. All the Commands are said to be hooked to the center.

By Stephen Ubanna

Those  who think that the redeployment of Sani Madugu, former Comptroller ,Ogun Command to the Customs Headquarters  as Comptroller , Enforcement, was as a result of the operation on Friday, April 6, 2018, by the Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A, Ikja, Lagos Roving team at  Illogbo Community iwithin  in  Lafenwa, in  the outskirts of Abeokuta would be disappointed. The operation described in Customs circles as bursting crime in the jungle  was said to have been well planned because of the violent nature of the people.

The  Magazine  learnt that Magdugu knew a month in advance that he would be redeployed to the Customs Headquarters to Had the Enforcement Unit in the Department of Enforcement and Investigation ,  headed by D an Gladima.A., a Deputy Comptroller General of Customs.

The Source gathered that the  Lafenwa  operation was at  the instance of  Muhammed Uba Garba,   Comptroller, FOU, Zone A, Ikeja, based on” credible intelligence.”  A source confirmed that at the onset it looked as if the operation would be a flop. This is  because of the stiff resistance f of the people as they were determined to frustrate the FOU Ooperation team.

. Eyewitness account disclosed that  aggrieved youths of the Community who had had kegs of fuel with them were battle ready  to burn the Customs operational vehicles.  The situation , according to the source was so intense  that Jack, the team leader had to reach out to the  Comptroller, who  quickly contacted Madugu, the Comptroller of Ogun Command for reinforcement. The Comptroller was said to have  ordered Seriki Abdullahi, a Chief Superintendent of Custooms, and the Command Head of Crack Squad  based in Idiroko, the operational base of the Command , to mobilize  his  officers and move into Ilogbo Community  to reinforce the FOU, Lagos Roving

In a military dispatch, Abdullahi was said to moved into Ilogbo with his officers to help quell the activities of the riotous youths of the Community to pave way for the FOU team to leave with the smuggled rice found  in the makeshift houses in the area.

Muhammed, the Comptroller confirmed that 2,671 bags of 50 kg bags of foreign parboiled rice  were evacuated from the village  using nine hired trucks. Giving an insider information about the achievements recorded by the Command in its anti-smuggling operations in the last couple of weeks, he confirmed that  the Command made  a seizure of 6,003 bags of foreign parboiled rice. The total rice figure seized within the period include the 2,671 bags  evacuated from Illogbo Community in Lafenwa  axis of Abeokuta.

It would be recalled that early last March the  Lagos Roving team had gone on operation based on credible information supplied at Idiroko, the major operational base of Ogun Command over  suspected Vehicles loaded with rice  being smuggled into the country from Republic of Benin. The officers  of the Inspector General of police, IGP, Tactical Squad , was said to have been involved in the operation.

There was alleged stiff resistance from the people forcing  Jack and his men to tactically withdraw from the scene to avoid casualty. A source told the Magazine  that the  smugglers who  were coming into the country with nine Vehicles loaded with 50 kg  foreign parboiled rice of about  25  bags of foreign parboiled rice of 50 each were trapped in their smuggling route. They could not move forward or backward because everywhere was strategically covered by Customs officers on the operation including the IGP’s men who were on ground armed to the teeth.

The tactical withdrawal of the  FOU, Zone A,  Roving  team personnel may have created an opportunity for the  IGP Tactical Special Squad  to impound the nine vehicles loaded with the smuggled Vehicles loaded with rice.

Many had expected Ibrahim  Idris, the IGP, to order the immediate release of the smuggled Vehicles loaded with rice  to the Customs, which responsibility it is to intercept and keep seized goods.  sources told the Magazine that  the FOU, Zone A, Customs boss made all the necessary efforts including phone calls to Edgal Imohimi, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police including having a personal contact  to facilitate the release of the items to the Customs Command  but no luck.

Given the hard line position of the Police Commissioner on the matter, Mohammed, the FOU, Zone A, Customs boss was said to have petitioned  Hameed Ali, a retired Colonel and Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, to intervene to save the situation from degenerating. Ali was said to have reached out to Idris,  his counterpart in the Force  Headquarters, Abuja, and a Compromise reached  to release the items to Customs.

A source confirmed that the IGP had directed  that the eight or  nine Vehicles  loaded with the foreign parboiled rice  still in police custody in Lagos,  since  March 14, 2018, be released to  Customs.  The Magazine gathered that the letter was written on March 16, 2018 but that was how far he could go. The source disclosed that Imohimi, the Lagos Police Command boss did not heed to the IGP directive to realse the items to the  Customs Formation at Ikeja..

The argument in police  circles, according was that the Ikeja Customs formation do not have the facilities to keep the seized smuggled items. They had  had wanted to carry out an inspection of the  place  that the Customs formation would keep the items if handed over to them.  It was a major bottle neck that was said to have been created by the police to delay the release of the items to Customs.

In spite of the fact that the Crime was committedin Lagos states in the south west geo-political Zone, the  Commander, IGP,  Tactical Special Squad was said to have  unilaterally carried out an investigation into the case without the involvement of  Customs officials.

Based on the investigation , it was gathered that eight persons were arrested in connection with the smuggled Vehicles loaded with rice and were subsequently charged to a Magistrate Court in Abuja. The question on the lips of most people was: why were  the suspects being dragged to a Magistrate Court in Abuja instead of Lagos where the  Crime was committed. ” They further queried on what ground are the suspects being charged to Court ”,  This is because Customs cases against suspected smugglers are susally charged to a High Court .   The eight suspects were said to have been  convicted to five months imprisonment each on each count with an option of N6000.00.

Okeaga Azubuike, the trial Magistrate was said to have ordered the release of  the alleged 150 bags of rice found in the  vehicles  to Customs and its forfeiture to the government. Already, Muhammed, Comptroller of FOU, Zone A, was said to have concluded arrangement  to take over the items from Police Authorities in Lagos.

While  the FOU, Zone A, Customs boss is making plans to take  delivery of the smuggled rice  loaded in nine Vehicles  from the police,  the Command on its part on Wednesday, April 11, 2018, handed over 570 parcels and  98 sacks of Cannabis  sativa, popular India  hemp, weighing 1,550kg to Lawal Isiaka, Principal Staff Officer, PSO, in charge of  Intelligence and Investigation, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA at the Command.

An  elated Isiaka said,  ”the fight against illicit drugs is for everybody including security agencies”.   He disclosed of plans by his agency  to form a ”motorized patrol team with the NCS to block all loopholes used by the illicit drug dealers in the country”.

The major seizure of the  Command  during the period was said to have been made at Apapa  and Tincan Island ports where four Containers intercepted   for  false declaration   by the Command’s Lagos Roving  team were seized on the orders of Muhammed, the Comptroller after re-examination.

Investigation by  the Magazine shows  that of the four Containers, both ”40” and  ”20”,  seized  by the Command  2x”40” of it  were found to have been released at APM Terminal,  Apapa port while 1x”40”  and another 1x”20” was  released from Tin can Island port. The 1x”20”, Container no:CSNU06087/4  was found to be carrying 2,260 cartons of Gonca Spaghetti made in the European country of Turkey and an additional 530 package of Energy drinks made in another European country.

But what was said to have been declared by the Importer in the SGD form  wasa baking powder. A tough talking an Muhammed   revealed  that  the Container was never exited properly through the gate, fueling speculations that there might have been a collusion between Customs Officials and the Importer’s Clearing agent at the port to commit the fraud.

”We are still investigating  and all those found culpable  will face the  wrath of the Law”, the FOU, Zone A, Comptroller said. The 1x”40”, Container no: CIU865957/1 was said to have been seized by the Customs Enforcement Unit for carrying  200 cartons of Ladies shoes, 140 cartons  of that of Children among other items as against  Computer keyboard and mouse in the SGD by the Importer.

In the case of the Containers that were released at Apapa port and seized by the Command, one of it , Container no: FCIU8992/1 was seized ” for allegedly carrying 2,300 cartons of tiffany  chocolate, 385 cartons of tifanny crunch and cream biscuit as against  ”Tapet for fuel pump complete which was said to have been declared by the Importer in the SGD .

aThis is an indictment on Jibril Musa and Baba Musa M.A. , Comptrollers , Apapa and Tincan Island  Command respectively and their Enforcement Units for failure to track the Containers before it left  the ports. This is because of their claims that that stakeholders at their ports are now compliant with government fiscal policy measures.  Musa , the Apapa Customs boss  was even boastful and optimistic that the NCIS II training which had flagged off at Kirikiri Lighter terminal, KLT, and Tin can Island port and other  ports when it becomes  operational at Apapa would help to block areas of revenue leakage  and boosts its monthly revenue collections.

It would be recalled that  the Customs Authorities had made clear to Importers with their clearing agents that  release of Containers without examination, proper documentation, false declaration, flying of Containers or recycling of documents  among others is liable to outright seizure and forfeiture to government.

Also, on the seizure list of the FOU, Zone A, Command were 64 exotic Vehicles . The vehicles were said to have been seized at different parts of Lagos state including Ogun state. It was learnt that18 of such exotic vehicles are still under detention and could only be released to the owners if theycould tender the necessary papers to the Command.

The Duty Paid Value, DPV of the alleged various contrabands seized by the Command including the exotic vehicles , according to the Comptroller was about N1.461 billion. This is in addition to  the N166.207 million recovered  from duty payments and  demand notices, DN,  on general goods from the seaports , airports and land border stations through ”wrong Classification, transfer of value and underpayment”.

Appealing to smugglers to desist from such trade malpractices and engage in legitimate business, the Comptroller said  the Unit has  devised other operational modalities that would give them a run for their money that would make many of them to  rot in jail.

A t present , 10 suspects were said to have  been arrested in connection with the seizures made by the Command  in the recent time. The FOU , He disclosed that  the Command could not have achieved that much without  the support of  the  Ali  led management team, the Army and the police  including the  support of officers and men of the Command .

To sustain the anti-smuggling drive,  he has urged the officers to go out and make seizures to” win his confidence”.  He was said to have rejig the operational roaster of the Command to give a bite to its anti-smuggling operations.

By  Stephen Ubanna

Dangladima.A. , a Deputy Comptroller General , DCG, of Customs, in charge of Enforcement and Investigation, at the Customs Headquarters appears to have put Christopher Odibu, Comptroller , Oyo and Osun Command and his officers under pressure to give a bite to the Command anti-smuggling operations.

The pressure on Odibu and his men may not be unconnected to the rumour making the rounds  over alleged  large scale smuggling of rice and vegetable oil at different parts of the  states which are under the  jurisdiction of the Command.  The Deputy Comptroller General was said to had been kept abreast of the smuggling activities going on in  the two state on a daily basis by unsuspected fifth columnists who analysts said  are out to frustrate the Oyo/Osun Command Customs boss from succeeding.

The situation was too bad as the Customs Enforcement and Investigation boss who could no longer keep the information  to himself as he decided to unveil it to the Oyo/Osun Comptroller in order to sit up.

A visitor to Ibadan, the operational base of the Command  disclosed that the frequent calls on Odibu about the activities of smugglers in his areas of jurisdiction despite the good number of his officers on the road by the DCG, is having a toll on his health. The visitor confirmed that the earliest time he leaves the  office daily was 8p.m as  he has made it a point of duty to talk with the patrol leaders and give them new directives on how to go about their duties.

Given the pressure from the Headquarters, he was said to have made it clear to the patrol team leaders that anyone  who allows smuggled foreign parboiled rice ,vegetable oil or any other prohibited items to be smuggled into  the country through his area of control will be summarily dealt with.

A senior Customs officer who spoke to the Magazine on condition of anonymity  explained that Odibu may have  been in the bad book of his detractors because of the holistic approach to deal with smugglers and their Customs collaborators in the state.” I have come to work and put things right in Oyo and Osun states”, the Comptroller was reported to have said.

there are indications in both official and unofficial  circles that  Odibu and his officers case were made worse by the frequent bursting of smuggler’s operations and seizures made in different parts of  Oyo and Osun states  which reports are regularly sent to the office of Dangaladima, the DCG, Enforcement and Investigation and Hameed Ali, a retired Colonel and the Comptroller General by   Muhammed Uba Garba, Comptroller, Federal Operation’s Unit, Zone A, Ikeja.

In the recent time, the FOU, Zone A,  was said to have made an alleged eight trucks load  of  smuggled foreign parboiled rice in an area in Oyo state and another three trucks load of rice, containing about 1,200 bags of rice from Ogbomosho, another major town in the state. Garba, the FOU, Zone A Comptroller  was said to have engaged the services of informants who had provide a clue on how to burst the smuggling ring and achieve results.

Many believe that most of the informants  that had been volunteering information  to the FOU, Zone A, and the Lagos based Strike Force about warehouses stocked with smuggled rice may not be totally correct. This is because of the rot at the nation’s seaports  because of the recycling of Customs papers on the importation of rice as most of the  rice stocked in the warehouses were imported through the seaport in Lagos.

In spite of the fact that the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria , CN, had not issued letter of Credit, LC, to rice importers in the last one year ,but the items had continued to find their way into the country through the nation’s seaports on the excuse that the approval given to them in the past years are yet to be utilized.

A source told the Magazine that rice importers  easily have their way because of the difficulty in identifying a  recycled rice import document . This is because of the general stamp that is used for  all rice  import documents.

The source who claimed to have been in Oyo Command in the six five years as an officer, revealed that there had  been an instance where the FOU, Zone A, Lagos Roving team, had raided some warehouses in Ibadan and its suburbs , carted away  thousands of bags of rice but the importer was able to tender the necessary import documents to the Command , forcing the then Comptroller of the Command to release the items to the owner with an apology.

The officer may be insinuating that the recent eight trucks load of rice and the about 1,200 bags seized from a warehouse in Ogbomosho may not have been totally smuggled as alleged by the FOU, Zone A, Customs  boss and his retinue of informants.

Despite the claims by pundits that both FOU Zone A, officers and the Headquarters Strike Force are over stepping their bounds in both Oyo and Osun states , Odibu, the Oyo/Osun Command Customs boss was said to have   rejig the Command operational   teams as a way of giving a bite to its anti-smuggling operations .

An Ibadan resident confirmed  that the measures that had been put in place by Odibu to frustrate smugglers plying the Saki route and other notorious  routes in the  state appears  had shut down the two states against smugglers. This is evident as smuggled foreign parboiled rice, Vegetable Oil and Vehicles are no longer being smuggled into Oyo and Osun states  as was the case in the past.

Indeed, a  bus driver plying Ibadan and Saki, which is about four hours,  on Okada ride to the nearest border Community between Nigeria and Republic  through the town has dropped significantly. He  confirmed that  the road between Ibadan and Saki town had been completely taken over by Customs personnel mostly from the Oyo/Osun Command. The officers, he said , are also combing the villages within the Saki axis  to frustrate the smugglers from coming out with their smuggled rice and Vegetable Oil to load into t buses to different parts of Oyo or Osun states, thus forcing many of them out of the trans-border transport businesss.

The driver disclosed that in the past , he used to make about four to five trips to Saki town daily but he could hardly make two trips now  as many traders who ususally travel to Saki to buy rice could no longer do so to buy the expected Commercial quantities as many  smugglers had  gone underground for fear of losing their money and items to Customs.

The desperate smugglers who could no longer stand the superior fire tactics of the Customs officers, may have devised  alternate   ways of taking  out their smuggled items, particularly  rice and vegetables into the Nigeria market i through  Oyo and Osun states . They were  said to have resorted to the use of Train services to carry out their illegitimate trade.

Only recently, a patrol team from the Oyo/Osun Command, acting on a tip off were said  to have stopped a passenger train heading to Ibadan station. The passenger train was said to have been  loaded with a large quantity of vegetable oil.

The Magazine gathered that there was apparent confusion in the area where the train was stopped by Customs  officials.  Eyewitness account disclosed that after much argument, the train driver pleaded to be allowed to drive the train  to their Ibadan station to discharge the items instead of discharging it on rail tracks which might obstruct  the  movement of goods and services in the area.

He disclosed that the Customs patrol team leader had  given the train driver the nod to take the smuggled items in their train coach to their Ibadan station for proper documentation and subsequent hand over to the Command. As at press time, the items were still  at the Ibadan train station

Insiders described the use of Passenger Trains in the south west, particularly, Oyo and Osun  states as a regular occurrence as  Train drivers saw it as an opportunity of carrying cargoes which gives much money to the  Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC.

Worried by the use of passenger trains to smuggle rice, vegetable oil and other banned items by the government,  officers had challenged , Odibu, the Oyo/Osun Customs boss to take up the matter with Dangladima, the DCG, Enforcement and Investigation, who in turn should take it up with Ali, the Comptroller General, to facilitate the release of the smuggled items in the NRC, Ibadan  Station to the Command.

The officers is are optimistic that once Ali is put into the picture of the use of NRC facilities to smuggle goods, he would be encouraged to take up  the matter with Eng. Usman Abubakar, the Chairman of NRc, who may be forced  to caution his train drivers  who stop over in unapproved locations to  carry smuggled goods to desist from it or be fired.

The embattled  Oyo/Osun Comptroller  may have sent a signal to Smugglers in Oyo and Osun states to prepare for war  within his first month in office .  Under his guidance,  patrol team leaders  were said to have impressed him with their seizures of two trucks, six Tunkunbo vehicles  used smuggling shoes, bags of rice, vegetable oil ,  secondhand clothing , and fairly used tyres.

The  Comptroller had confirmed in his first  media interation with Journalists in Oyo state that the Command  made a seizure of 375 bags of foreign parboiled rice, 27 bales of secondhand clothing, 60, 25 litres keg of vegetable oil and 600 bags of fertilizer. It was learnt the seizures were made between Saki and Ibadan. The seizures were however, a far cry to what the FOU, Zone A, Ikeja and the Headquarters Strike Force, were said to have made  in the state within the period.

Given the resort to Passenger trains  by Smugglers in Oyo and Osun states to carry out their nefarious activities  and the challenge of  FOU, Zone A as well as the Headquarters Strike Force officers, Odibu, the Oyo Customs boss  was said to have reached out to Fidelis Azinta, a Major General and the General Officer Commanding, GOC, the 2nd  Mechanised Division, Ibadan  and the Director of the Department of State Security, DSS, at the outskirts of Ibadan to  seek for their support in the anti-smuggling war in the states on Thursday, April5, 2018.

He was said to have told the GOC and the Director of DSS, that  the Command would not hesitate to request for their assistance to clip the wings of the smugglers in some of the no go areas  in the state because of the sophisticated weapons used by them.

The  Army boss was said to have assured  him of their support at any point in time to bring the activities of smugglers in the state to a standstill. The DSS were also said to have promised  their support in  the area of information gathering and dissemination  to the Command about smugglers in the state.

This is good news to Odibu and his men who had looked forward to such a time when they could meet the leadership of the two security outfits in the state to seek for their  support to curtail the activities of smugglers in  both Oyo and Osun states.

It is hoped that this new found working relationship between the Army, DSS and the Oyo/Osun Customs Command, it would go a long way to curtail the activities of smugglers in the two states. It would be recalled that  late last month, Garba, Comptroller , FOU, Zone A, led some senior officers from the Command  to pay a courtesy call on Azinta, the GOC,  f the Army second Mechanised Division in Ibadan. The visit was said to have been informed by the seizure of eight trucks loaded with rice from the Ibadan axis and  another three trucks  loaded with about 1,200 bags of rice in Ogbomosho town, also in Oyo state.

The FOU, Zone A, Customs boss may have gone to seek the support of the Army in their anti-smuggling operations because of the harassment of the officers who went on the operation at Ogbomosho.  Aggrieved Youths from the town  were said to have blocked the road against the officers  to forestall leaving the town with the impoundeed smuggled rice . They were said to have used stones, broken bottles              and other dangerous weapons to throw at the officers to provoke them to shoot at the crowd but got  it wrong.

The Magazine gathered that there were   Army and police officers  at the scene with rifles  but could not come to the support of the embattled FOU, Zone A, operational Officers fueling speculation that they may have liked  the attack on the Customs officers.