22nd February, 2018
The Nigerian Customs Service, Zone ‘C’, Federal Operations Unit (FOU) lost about N360 million in revenue generation in 2017, the Zonal Comptroller, Ahmed Azarema, said in Benin.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the command generated N346.2 million in 2017 as against the N706.2 million in 2016.
The comptroller said the drop in revenue in 2017 was due to the low 155 Demand on Notice (DN) on vehicles and general goods from the 316 recorded in 2016.
He said that smugglers had devised new tactics of bringing in banned products into the zone by “weaving banned and unbanned products to beat the customs”.
He said that the weaving was so perfectly done in such a way that only an experienced officer would detect and separate the products.
Azarewa said that unregistered vehicles were also deliberately lodged in the midst of registered vehicles to deceive the customs.
He said that for every trick adopted by smugglers, the customs was far ahead because the customs also reviewed its strategies to meet the challenges posed by the antics.
“The Customs cannot disclose its strategies as it will amount to exposing our joker to them,” he said.
The zone comprised Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa-Ibom, Imo, Ebonyi, Anambra, Abia and Enugu states.