The Apapa Area Command of Nigeria Customs Service said it has generated the sum N1, 023,663,842,255.63 trillion as revenue in the first half of the year, 2024.
Controller of the Command, Comptroller Babatunde Olomu, disclosed during a press briefing today, Monday.
He said that the amount generated shows a 143% increase compared to the revenue generated in the corresponding period of 2023.
The Customs chief said that extra measures were put in place to achieve the increase in revenue in the command due to blockades, traced unpaid duties especially in bonded terminals under the Command despite a sharp reduction in the volume of trade.
Comptroller Babatunde Olomu, on assumption to duty has charge his officers and men to maintain the resilience in blocking revenue leakages and ensuring that all unpaid declarations and uninitialized Pre-Arrival Assessment Reports had been traced and accounted to the Federal Government coffers.
On trade facilitation, Comptroller Olomu said the command applied a blend of intelligence with community relations for better awareness of the operating environment to achieve greater trade facilitation and fight criminality
He emphasised that his officers addressed complaints and disputes within record time and that he operates an open door policy where everyone could see him to discuss matters that will facilitate trade.
On anti-smuggling activities, Olomu said the command intercepted 11 containers with prohibited items, namely, unregistered pharmaceuticals, used clothing, armoured cables and frozen poultry products with a duty paid value of N424.1 million as against the 42 seizures with a duty paid value of N1.4 billion made in the first half of last year.
He said last week, a large quantity of expired and unregistered pharmaceuticals were uncovered in three 40ft containers with numbers TCKU 6928184, MRKU 4422733 and MRSU 5550243.
He said another set of containers with numbers MNBU 3934925, MEDU 9107559 and MEDU 9752980 loaded with 7,580 cartons of frozen products unsafe for human consumption which violates the schedule 3 of the revised import prohibition list of the Common External Tariff (CET) and Section 233 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, were also seized.
