Undercover investigations carried out by Business Intelligence Unit (BIU) of Business Hilights Publications between September 15 and October 15, 2017 in both Lagos ports of Apapa and Tincan have revealed that there is no case of false declaration by an importer that has no hand with at least one or three Customs officials to sail through or be caught.
In cases where they were caught, it means that there was an error of disagreement somewhere along the line or there was a leakage of the deal into the ears of an official that was not originally co-opted in the deal.
Further investigations show that the clearing agents that will handle the job usually initiate the discussion with any officer he finds fit for the job and they will start to monitor the exit the cargo right from the port of loading till the ship arrives.
Many of the documentations of such cargoes are solely handled by Customs officials who are part of the deal with high level of secrecy even amongst their peers who are equally ready to burst the deal at the slightest suspicion.
Part of this survey report was recently upheld by the of Director General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mr. Osita Aboloma, who recently raised an alarm over the recent increase in the cases of false declaration of imports at the country’s entry posts.
Speaking in Lagos at the inspection of about 7 container loads of products intercepted by the agency’s Enforcement Team, during the recent sallah holidays, Mr. Aboloma observed that most of the intercepted containers came through the Tin Can Port and were all carrying products different from those declared at the points of clearance.
Enumerating the infractions, the SON boss stated that plywood were declared as electric goods; used clothes as plumbing and building materials, while refrigerators were declared as cutting machines and agricultural appliances;
Others according to him include, generators declared as industrial raw materials; kerosene cooking stoves and aluminum coated roofing sheets as plumbing materials.
Mr. Aboloma disclosed that some of the importers who were issued import permits for raw materials and machinery in furtherance of the Nation’s economic diversification programme ended up importing finished goods.
He frowned at the deliberate efforts of those he described as unscrupulous importers and their collaborators to undermine then Nation’s strive towards transparency and the ease of doing business especially at the entry points.
