Seme Customs racks in N9.9bn from export duties in 10 months

nigeria-customs-service

The Nigeria Customs Service, Seme command, on Wednesday said it generated N9.9bn from exportation of goods across the Seme border between January and October.

The command said it also collected N5.3bn in revenue in the same period even as the government had stopped the importation of rice and used cars through Seme border.

The Customs Area Controller of the command, Mohammed Aliyu was quoted the Public Relations Officer of the command, Taupyen Selchang, as saying this in a statement released to newsmen.

Aliyu maintained that smuggling along that corridor had reduced significantly owing to the vigilance of Customs officers, adding that this accounted for the increase in revenue in the past 10 months.

According to the statement, the anti-smuggling unit of the command made a total of 469 seizures worth more than N508m during the period under review.

In the month of October alone, the command was said to have generated N678m in revenue and made 123 seizures, amounting to N184m.

The command, according to the statement, also arrested 23 people.

The Seme command boss warned people against attempting to import contraband through the Seme border ahead of the Yuletide season.

On the movement of goods through the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme, he said the command remained committed to the implementation of the scheme.

He stressed that the rules of origin and the enterprise list were strictly used to ensure that infractions to evade duty through false declaration were avoided, while legitimate ECOWAS goods within the West African sub-region were facilitated through the scheme.