Eromosele Abiodun
The Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced that it generatedN594.19 million in the month of January 2017.
The Command also said it made 43 seizures with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N92.38 million.
In a statement, the command said the source of the revenue it generated was dominated by imported general goods and baggage assessment using the Passengers Baggage Entry System (PBES) platform.
Commenting on the revenue figure, the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Dimka, V.D said the amount realised is commendable.
He said the ban on the importation of vehicles via land borders has no negative implication to the NCS since no revenue is lost to the federal government coffers.
This, he stated, is because the revenue that supposed to be collected through the land border is still collected at the sea port without leakages.
He further re-iterated that every officer must ensure total compliance of the policy to succeed.
He said all hands must be on deck to ensure that the success of the policy is intelligence driven with a robust relationship between the border Command and the host Communities.
The Command helmsman enjoined his officers and men to work assiduously as never before to give their best to the service in a challenging time like now.
He re-stated that as the busiest land border command that is strategically located along the corridor that link other West African Countries, the Command cannot afford to fail because much is expected from the border Command.
He assured that the command will continue to perform her statutory functions of revenue generation, facilitation of legitimate trade, combating of smuggling activities across the frontier and securing the Nation’s territorial integrity among others.
He said the anti-smuggling Unit of the command is already frustrating the attempt of smugglers who dare to try the might of the Government in smuggling fairly used vehicles through the land border.
The Customs Area Controller had during the visit of the Assistant Comptroller General of Customs Zone ‘A’ ACG Abueh, M.N to Seme Area Command, lamented the absence of facilities (Baggage hall, Parking space, Examination bay, Functional Scanner etc) that led to operational setback hence making the border command un-equipped to operate in line with the global best practices as obtainable in other developed Countries.
He took the visiting ACG for on the spot assessment of the Baggage Unit, ETLS and Export Seat all located in Benin Republic and the Government Warehouse of the Command at the Nigerian site.
The Command also observed the International Customs Day (ICD) celebration on the 26th January, 2017.
The line-up events that commemorated the ICD celebration commenced with a parade, a lecture presentation on the theme” Data Analysis for Effective Border Management,” to all the invited dignitaries (Stakeholders, Host Communities, Relevant security agencies) and a novelty football match between the Nigeria Customs Service Seme Command and the Nigeria Immigration Service Seme.
