By Bon Peters, Rivers.
In a bid to protect local production and rid the society of prohibited items, the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has vowed action to protecting Nigerian farmers, manufacturers, businesses from false declarations, and other practices capable of undermining domestic production and job creation, even as 56 containers laden with prohibited items valued at N5.53billion Duty Paid Value (DPV) were confiscated in Port Harcourt 11, Area Command Onne, Rivers state.
Disclosing this to journalists on at Onne, Port, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state Capital, Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, stated that, “The intervention formed part of intelligence-driven and risk-based operations aimed at preventing prohibited, restricted and improperly declared consignments from entering the Nigerian market, thereby crippling the overall productivity of our local businesses.”
The Customs boss noted that unchecked importation of products that could be produced or processed locally and placed additional pressure on Nigerian farmers, manufacturers and other domestic producers by exposing them to unfair competition, weakening demand for local products and discouraging investment across domestic value chains.
“The economic impact is especially significant in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Large-scale importation of products that Nigeria can produce or process may undermine the Federal Government’s efforts to promote local industries, strengthen food security, create jobs, and diversify the economy, ” he said.
CGC Adeniyi however stressed that Customs enforcement was not designed to frustrate legitimate businesses, but to ensure that Nigerians and compliant businesses operated within a fair, secure and predictable trading environment saying that, “The Service’s risk-based approach enabled it to facilitate legitimate cargo while directing enhanced scrutiny towards consignments considered high-risk.”
The CGC therefore applauded the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Aliyu Alkali, and officers of the Port Harcourt II Area Command for the interceptions, while advising importers and other stakeholders to establish the admissibility of their intended imports before commencing transactions and to make accurate declarations concerning the description, quantity, value, origin and classification of goods.
Giving breakdown of the seized containers, the Comptroller General of Customs, said that the consignments comprised 45 20-foot containers of foreign vegetable oil, nine 40-foot containers of used clothing, and two 20-foot containers of Channy tomato paste, even as he insisted that confiscating them aligned with the Federal Government’s broader economic objectives, particularly policies promoting made-in-Nigeria products.
In another development, the Customs Cares initiative of the Comptroller General of Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi that was launched last year berthed at Ebubu in Eleme, Local Government Area, one of Nigeria’s Customs Service host communities in Rivers State with the completion, inauguration and handing over of a modern Primary Health Care facility at Ebubu which was formerly vandalized and abandoned over the years.
The gesture, according to Comptroller General of Customs underscores the determination and commitment of the current administration and the management team towards the alleviation of the sufferings of the masses through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by providing the health need of the people.
Adeniyi praised the Customs Controller, Port Harcourt, Area 11 Command, Onne Comptroller Mohammed Aliyu Alkali, for the initiative in driving the project even as he also applauded the contributions of the critical stakeholders such as Freight Forwarding Associations, Terminal operators among others.
On the security of the facility, he charged the authorities and the Ebubu community to ensure the protection of the healthcare facility.
Speaking to newsmen at the inauguration, the Managing Director/ CEO of Kingsoo Bonded Terminal, Chief Kingsley Offor, who donated an ambulance to the primary HealthCare, noted that the gesture was service to humanity,. He said: “I thank God today, it’s always good to serve humanity, what we are seeing today is not for personal gain but to serve humanity. Like everything that has been said today, I urge the community and other stakeholders to take this hospital as their personal property so that it will not go the same way it was before this time.”
Chief Offor thanked the CGC for the Customs Cares initiative and the Onne customs Controller, Comptroller Alkali in particular for keying into the project.
The Ebubu community expressed satisfaction with the Nigeria Customs Service for the gesture promising to protect the Primary HealthCare and ensuring its effective utilization.
The high point of the event was the conferment of chieft ancy title on the CGC. by the Ebubu community Chiefs.
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