The Port Harcourt Area II Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Onne, Rivers state, on Tuesday, September 15, seized 56 containers containing contraband products with a total Duty Paid Value (DPV) of over N5.53 billion.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, who disclosed this in Port Harcourt, said the seizures followed an intelligence-driven review of cargoes destined for Free Trade Zones in the country.
According to Adeniyi, the 56 containers comprised 45 containing more than 1.1 million litres of vegetable oil, nine containing assorted used clothing and two containing foreign tomato paste.
He said the containers had been falsely declared by importers as plants, spare parts and machinery, with the intention of diverting the goods into the local market instead of taking them to Free Trade Zones for manufacturing activities.
Adeniyi said the seizures exposed what he described as a flagrant abuse of incentives and waivers granted by the federal government to operators in Special Economic Zones and Free Trade Zones to encourage local production and exports.
He said the federal government allows operators in Free Trade Zones to import raw materials, plants and machinery duty-free and, in some cases, goods under import prohibition, but investigations had shown that some operators were abusing the concessions.
He said the Onne Command, through risk-based profiling, discovered that importers operating in Free Trade Zones had imported 45 containers of vegetable oil under the “Delicious and Poor” brand.
According to him, each of the 45 containers contained 1,050 jerry cans of 25 litres each, amounting to more than 1.1 million litres of vegetable oil valued at N4.25 billion in DPV.
He added that nine 40-foot containers of assorted used clothing valued at N1.05 billion and two 20-foot containers of foreign tomato paste valued at N232 million were also intercepted.
This brought the total value of the 56 seized containers to N5.53 billion.
Adeniyi said the discovery was made during physical examination after the cargoes had been subjected to risk-based profiling.
“The remarkable thing about these containers is that they were declared as machinery and spare parts. When we discovered them during physical examination, we discovered they were vegetable oil and it is obvious that the intention of the importer is not to take them to free trade zones for any manufacturing activities, but to introduce them into our local markets,” he said.
He said the seizure was also aimed at protecting local producers from unfair competition and ensuring that trade facilitation measures were not exploited to undermine the domestic economy.
“As we facilitate trade and ensure prompt clearance of imported goods through our ports, we must also ensure that local producers of the same products get justice,” Adeniyi said.
He recalled that less than a month earlier, the Cross River/Akwa Ibom Area Command had seized two 40-foot containers of vegetable oil destined for the Calabar Free Trade Zone after they were diverted.
Adeniyi said records also showed that about 40 other containers of vegetable oil had earlier been taken into the Calabar Free Trade Zone.
He said the 56 containers were seized for contravening Sections 55 and 233 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023.
“We are going to initiate court processes leading to condemnation and final forfeiture. All those involved, whether importers, agents, shipping companies, I have directed our legal unit to initiate their prosecution.
“We will undertake a comprehensive audit of all containers whose customs processes were suspended and moved to Tinapa Free Trade Zone. Until all transferred containers are properly accounted for, no further transfer of containers to Tinapa Free Trade Zone will be allowed,” he said.
Adeniyi also commissioned a reconstructed Primary Healthcare Centre in Ebubu, Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers state, built by the Port Harcourt Area II Command, Onne.
He described the project as a milestone in the transformation of the NCS into a modern, professional and responsive institution.
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