Customs Dragged To Court Over Wrongful Sale Of Container

A private limited liability company. E. N. Michael, has dragged Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) before a Federal High Court in Lagos over alleged wrongful and illegal sale of its container.

According to the statement of claim filed by Barrister Jude Ezeamaechi, it was alleged that sometimes in September 2008, the plaintiff placed an order for the importation of 121 generating sets and 1,220 agric pumping machines from Sino-Frica Industry Global Company in China.

The whole container arrived safely in Nigeria on 30 November, 2008 in 2 x 4 ft containers with numbers 8237273 and GESU 5756818 in Bills of Lading.

The containers arrived on board of a vessel marked CMACCM Ebony and were discharged at APM Terminals Apapa Port on the understanding that the company will take delivery of the goods consequent upon which the plaintiff engaged the services of a lincensed clearing and forwarding agent.

They were said to contain 30 sets of Birla Yamaha 0.65 KVA generators, 30 pieces of Tigmas (1.9 KVA) and 610 sets of agric pumping machines, while the second container contained 31 Yamaha generators, 30 Elemax generators and 610 agric pumping machines.

The company was alleged to have borrowed money from the bank to finance the importation of the goods.

The company paid the requisite duties and other sundry charges in respect of the two containers and clearing documents, while the task force on port congestion conducted 100 per cent physical examination of the containers and released them to the plaintiff.

However, when the applicant went to take delivery of the containers, it discovered, to its consternation and chagrin, that they were nowhere to be found and that Customs had sold them in an auction on 28 April, 2009.

As a result of this wrongful and illegal sale, the plaintiff was alleged to have suffered great loss and damages and consequently, the company’s claims from and against Nigeria Customs Service are as follows: A declaration that the sale of the two containers in an auction without giving the plaintiff any notice of such intention it had been sufficiently identified, paid the duties and containers released to it by the task force on port congestion, is in breach of fair hearing and therefore unconstitutional, null and void as well as N16,751,754 being the value of the goods contained in the containers, Customs duty paid and the total demurrage and shipping company charges paid.