Customs Officers Disobey CGC, Frustrate Smooth Cargo Clearance

Making a mockery of the fabled strict adherence of Nigeria’s military and paramilitary personnel to the command structure of the various services, certain recalcitrant members of some units of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have brazenly been flouting the directives of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Dikko Inde Abdullahi, as a matter of routine.

The Customs chief had severally ordered that operatives of the Customs Intelligence Unit (CIU), as well as Valuation and Enforcement units do not get directly involved in cargo clearance in order to minimise delays in the process.

Findings by P.M.Maritime revealed that a number of Area Commands and Customs agents are angry, complaining bitterly that operatives of the CIU, as well as Valuation and Enforcement continue to constitute stumbling blocks to smooth cargo clearance, in spite of the Customs chief’s directives.

Unreceipted payments to the operatives of these units by consignees or their agents, it was learnt, is a great contributory factor to delays in the cargo clearance process.

A cross section of Customs agents recently poured out their hearts over the issue to the Customs Area Controller (CAC), Tin-Can Island Port, Comptroller Isa Nuhu, at a meeting his management held with the chapter executives of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (NAGAFF), and the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA).

The CAC, it was learnt, had, in his response, explained to the worried agents that he had already met with the personnel of the CIU, and Valuation and Enforcement units and brought the Customs chief’s directives to their attention. Nuhu specifically reiterated that CIU operatives are required to only watch and report their observations at examination bays.