Controller, Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘A’ of the Nigeria Customs Service, Comptroller Muhammed Uba, has again advised reputable companies, such as Dangote and Nigerian Breweries whose vehicles are mostly used for smuggling activities, to look at the credibility of their drivers before employing them to avoid such drivers denting the image of the companies they work for.
Speaking against the backdrop of a Dangote truck used in conveying smuggled rice intercepted by the Unit in Lagos last week, Uba said that the seizures or detention of such vehicles causes loss of money to these companies and in turn affect the turn-over of excise duties meant to be paid to Customs by these companies.
“For the corporate world, dealing with human beings is a difficult thing, these companies cannot sack all their drivers at once as this would affect their businesses; but we have been assured that they would work towards preventing the use of their vehicles for smuggling purposes, so as to prevent seizure or detention of the vehicles in future,” he said.
Speaking on the seized 15 exotic vehicles, Comptroller Uba, said that most of the vehicles were in detention because the importer could not produce Customs document while others did not pay accurate customs duty on such vehicles.
“Once the required documents are produced and appropriate money has been paid, which must have been confirmed by the Customs headquarters based on appropriate documents and that procedures has not been violated, the vehicles will be released to the owners. This is the secret of trade facilitation,” he stated.