The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Apapa Area Command said it raked into government coffers the sum of N518,046,832,016.84 in the 2020 fiscal year.
The Command Comptroller, Mohammed Abba-Kura, who gave these figures at a media briefing held on Tuesday in Lagos, said the revenue generated represented N94,379,835,352.53 increase over the N423.6 billion generated in the year 2019.
He enthused: “As regards anti-smuggling and in line with the provision of extant circulars, trade guidelines and enforcement of government fiscal policy measures, the Command was able to further strengthen its anti-smuggling operations against economic saboteurs.
“This was done through credible intelligence-driven operations and continuous partnership with other relevant agencies for effective port management to stem their illegitimate activities.
“Accordingly, the command made a total of 318 seizures with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N21,196,806,637.00, and these figures almost tripled the total seizures for the year 2019 which stood at 112 with total Duty Paid value of N12.5 billion”, Abba-Kura added.
He listed some of the seized items during the year in review as 133 containers of unregistered pharmaceuticals, including Tramadol; 58 containers of parboiled rice; 30 of vegetable oil; 31 of used clothes and shoes; 13 of used tyres, amongst other contrabands.
The Comptroller further explained that export volume in the Area Command increased with the unit handling about 1,311,365 metric tons of cargo in 2020, up from the 262,095 metric tons handled in the preceding year.
