Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Apapa Area Command on Tuesday disclosed that it raked in N212.592 billion revenue in the first quarter of financial year (FY) 2023.
The Apapa Area Controller, Comptroller Auwal Mohammed, disclosed that during the quarter, a total of 110,448 metric tonnes of exports, comprising processed agricultural items such as sesame seeds, ginger, hibiscus, mineral resources, steel ingots and many others were handled by the Command.
Mohammed attributed the improved revenue collections by the Command to primarily the sustained efforts by the officers and men in tackling the menace of smuggling and forestalling illegal trade of any form by ensuring strict compliance with import-export regulatory guidelines by importers and exporters.
The Comptroller explained: “My meeting with various stakeholders and partner government agencies is to ensure the tempo of compliance is sustained and improved upon, the Command stood forthright in foiling attempts at smuggling prohibited items into and out of the country.
“On this note, the Command recorded a total collection of N212,592,680,700.99 covering January-March”, he added.
According to him, statistics from the export report shows that the exported goods were worth N70.2 billion, which is equivalent to Free on Board (FOB) value of $159,845,232.84.
Mohammed maintained that the Command also ensured stricter enforcement of the Federal Government’s fiscal policies and extant laws with a view to ensuring full inspection of all import and export consignments transiting through Apapa Port, adding that this drive is being undertaken in collaboration with other government agencies through inter-agency intelligence gathering and dissemination.
This is even as he hinted that in Q1 2023, the Command made seizures of 14 containers loaded with prohibited and substandard items such as vegetable oil, used clothing, foot wears, unprocessed wood and tramadol tablets with a Duty Paid Value of N22.1 billion.
He clarified: “It is pertinent to mention that on March 31 the Command uncovered a large quantity of 225mg of tramadol tablets concealed in 2X4ft container numbers TRHU 4758549 and THRU 6936803.
“143.8 million tablets of Tramadol 225mg were discovered in 720 cartons weighing 10.3 tonnes (10,386kg) that originated from India, and this single seizure is valued at N21.6 billion”, Mohammed added.
It would be recalled that Apapa Area Command reported a N1.02 trillion revenue collection in 2022, representing 16.07% higher than the N870.38 billion generated in the previous year.
