The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Apapa Command, raked in N1.02 trillion in 2022, NewsSpecng has learnt.
The amount represents a 16 percent increase above N870.38 million collected in 2021.
This was disclosed at a media conference in Lagos by the the customs area controller in charge of Apapa, Comptroller Malanta Yusuf.
He said, “This feat was made possible because of the resilience of our officers and men in blocking revenue leakages and ensuring that all unpaid declarations and unitilised pre-arrival assessment reports had been traced and accounted to the Federal Government coffers”
Yusuf said the amount was unprecedented in the history of revenue generation by the command, and that the value recorded in 2022 was 16 percent higher than the N870.38 million collected in 2021.
As regards anti-smuggling, he said 157 containers with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N14.4 billion were seized as against 102 containers with DPV of N31.8 billion seized in the year 2021.
“Our record shows that fake and prohibited drugs without necessary National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) certification and Tramadol topped the list of seizures made last year.
“Other items seized include codeine syrup, foreign parboiled rice, vegetable oil, processed/unprocessed wood, used clothings and others,”he said.
The Apapa customs boss also said that 60 suspects were arrested in connection with some of the seizures and were at various stages of investigation and prosecution by other agencies of government.
Yusuf said in line with the federal government’s diversification of the economy to non-oil export, the command recorded a total of 68.5 million dollars Free on Board (FOB) value, equivalent to N28.2 billion of non-oil commodities.
Also, a total of 6.4 million metric tonnes were exported through Apapa in the year under review.
He listed the items to include steel bars; agricultural produce such as hibiscus, sesame seeds, cocoa, cashew nuts, ginger, soya beans and mineral products.
Yusuf said collaboration with other government agencies had greatly enhanced the productivity of the service and pledged to continue to build on the synergy to ensure that recalcitrant criminals were dealt with decisively.
He commended all traders who made the right payments and who were sincere in their declarations.
“I want to commend our compliant traders who do sincere declarations, pay accurate duty and obey extant import and export guidelines without violating the prohibition lists,” he said.
He appreciated the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali and his management team for the support and encouragement they given to the command, and pledged that the command would surpass the 2022 collections.
