Customs: SEME Command records over N994m in October

Photo shows the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali [retd].

The Nigeria Customs Service Seme Area Command generated a whooping sum of N994,813,647.06 for the month of October 2016. 

The disclosure was contained in a recent Customs Watch publication.

According to Customs Watch, the Command also made 68 seizures with a Duty Paid Value of N35, 302,957.90.

The revenue generated for the month of October ex­ceeded the amount generated in the corresponding year with over N60, 884,291.76.

The publication also outlined the challenges facing Customs that also hampered the smooth collection of revenue in the month of October.

They are: 

– Malfunctioning of the electrical control cabinet and the electricity generating plant of the scanning machine,

– the new policy introduced by the Republic of Benin on movement of goods from the ports to their bonded terminals before been transferred to the park, 

– prevailing high exchange rate (CFA) and,

– the dilapidated nature of the road diversion from the Republic of Benin.

The publication said that these have contributed immensely in slowing down economic activities at the border.

Commenting on the revenue figure, the Customs Area Controller, disclosed that the determination to succeed at all cost is paying off.

He, further, acknowledged that there is room for improvement.

He noted that if the command must dare to be different and remain in total compliance as a change agent.

The command must be ready to face criticism and public condemnation among many unpatriotic Nigerians, he said.

He mentioned criticism, campaign of calumny and unprofessional publications of baseless and unverified news on the pages of newspapers as harbingers of debility.

 He, however, pledged that Seme Command will continue to work strictly in compliance with the mandate given it. 

He stated that he will continue to spur his officers and men to put in their modest contribution to actualize the service’s mandate.

It could be recalled that the Customs Area Controller assumed duty on January 13th 2015.

Then he vowed that officers and men of the Com­mand must get it right and have a complete moral rebirth in discharging their statutory obligations. 

He advocated a high level of discipline, integrity and excellence while discharging their core functions of revenue generation, suppression of smuggling and facilitating legitimate trade.

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