The Nigeria Customs Service, on Sunday, declared that it had intercepted 15 trailers that were fully loaded with food items and were heading out of the country through the Sokoto State border.
It said the trailers were stopped and the food items were returned to Nigeria, adding that this was part of measures to stabilise the prices of food items across the country in line with the mandate of the Federal Government.
It was earlier reported that the Federal Government had set up a committee comprising the National Security Adviser, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, and the Inspector-General of Police to clamp down on traders hoarding grains.
The report also stated that the government had ruled out the importation of food as part of strategies to address the high costs of foodstuffs and the economic hardship troubling the country.
It stated that this formed part of the resolutions reached at Thursday’s emergency meeting between President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and state governors at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
When contacted by our correspondent on Sunday to confirm whether the service had clamped down on food hoarders or those trying to move food out of Nigeria, the National Public Relations Officer, who is a Chief Superintendent of Customs, Abdullahi Maiwada, stated that interceptions had been made.
He said, “Some items were brought back at Sokoto, but I don’t have the details of the grains or the food items in question. These are some of the areas being worked on to avert such movement of food items out of the country.
“So there are interceptions, but I don’t have the actual record of that. However, this time around, our interceptions are not aimed at seizing the food items, rather to send them back and to be consumed locally so that the prices of food items will stabilise.
“I think we are going to issue a more detailed statement about this tomorrow (Monday) on what we are doing based on our own core mandate and how we can also contribute to the stability of food prices, among other things.”
When probed further to speak on the quantity of items intercepted, Maiwada replied, “There were in very large quantities, I think about five trailers or so. I don’t have the exact records, but I’m sure there were interceptions.”
Recall that while assessing the government’s action to tackle the hardship in the country, the All Farmers Association of Nigeria and the organised private had supported the decision of the President and the governors not to adopt importation as a solution to the biting food crisis facing the nation.
They also backed the planned action against hoarders as the Nigeria Customs Service vowed to stop smuggling of food out of the country.
The prices of staples have gone up in recent times with the National Bureau of Statistics listing the 2023 December food inflation at 33.93 percent, up from 23.75 percent in December 2022.
Reports say the prices of staples like rice, beans, oils, plantain, grains, fish, poultry, and meat have surged by 50 per cent and this has triggered protests against the harsh development across the country.
Data obtained from the consumer price index reports by the NBS indicated Nigeria spent N1.47tn on importing food and beverages in the first six months of 2023.
AFAN President, Kabir Ibrahim, had told our correspondent that the decision of the government to order food producers to release their products to the market would help check the continued rise in the prices of food items.
“I encourage the security agencies to move in with some other government officials and ask people to open their stores to sell what they have at the prevailing prices. The commodities should be sold at the prevailing prices.
“Nobody is asking them to bring down their prices, for once they sell at the prevailing prices they will not lose anything. But hoarding is not allowed anywhere in the world. You cannot keep what is needed and make them scarce.
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“So the government should move in and do all it could to address this situation in Nigeria now. The prices of commodities are rising and the government has to wade in to tackle this issue, and it has our support on this,” he stated.
N5tn revenue target
The NCS also announced on Sunday that the Senate had approved the sum of N5.079tn as a revenue target and N706.4bn as budget for the service in the 2024 fiscal year.
It said the approval followed consideration of a report presentation by the Committee Chairman on Customs, Excise, and Tariff, Jibrin Isah, at the recent plenary with the lawmakers, according to a statement issued by the NCS in Abuja.
Addressing the plenary, Isah highlighted personnel costs at N225.99bn and overhead costs at N111.76bn, representing 31.99 and 15.82 percent of the budget.
It quoted Isah as saying, “Also, ongoing capital projects stood at N148.42bn while new projects, which represented 52.19 percent, were earmarked for N220.26bn.”
Providing a breakdown of the budget, he added that the timely rollout of the 2024 fiscal policy would enable the service to commence implementation promptly.
He said, “As part of Customs strategy, the provision of the flexible window will help curb illegally imported vehicles and ensure the proper collection of expected import duties and 25 percent penalty charge from such categories of transactions.
“Mechanisms such as systems audit, real-time auditing, post clearance auditing, institution of revenue recovery committee and other intelligence gathering tools will ensure an intensive revenue recovery drive.”
The revised penalties and charges in the new Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, he noted, would improve the service’s revenue generation.
In the aspect of anti-smuggling and cargo tracking, the committee chairman stated that the service was looking forward to collaboration with the Shippers Council and other relevant government agencies to decongest and achieve efficient, effective port operations, which would yield more revenue.
“As provided within the confines of Customs law, all required operational guides will be utilised to ensure that illicit trade that creates a sphere for revenue leakages, as well as economic sabotage, are reduced to the barest minimum,” he stated.
In another development, the NCS also announced on Sunday that its Comptroller-General, Bashir Adeniyi, had conveyed a steering committee meeting to consolidate the gains achieved in the implementation organisation’s Trade Modernisation Project aimed at enhancing trade facilitation.
At the meeting with members of the TMP Steering Committee, Adeniyi disclosed that the project was geared towards the end-to-end automation of the processes and procedures of the NCS.
He said the Trade Modernisation Project encompassed the Unified Customs Management System, Trade Portal, and Cargo Release System, alongside automation services such as Big Data & AI Integration and Document Management System, as well as Transition & Handbook, covering technology upgrades and enhanced capacity building.
He noted that the project “sets the stage for adapting to evolving market dynamics in trade, optimising operations and procedures and creating new pathways to unlock revenue streams.”
The Controller, Border Drilling, NCS Zone 4, Sokoto, Controller Kolapo Oladeji, said the Nigerian Customs had resolved to use all legal means to ensure no foodstuffs was smuggled out of the country through any of it’s land borders.
Speaking while parading some pharmaceutical drugs allegedly smuggled into the country by the smugglers at the Customs Sokoto command office on Thursday, he described the activities of the smugglers as unpatriotic and against the development of the country.
He said the Nigerian Customs was fully committed to ensuring safety environment for residents as well as ensuring adequate food supplies to the populace.
He said, “We have been mandated by the Comptroller General of Customs to ensure that no food is allowed to be snuggled out of the country henceforth.
“My team in Zone 4, comprising Northwest states have been empowered through manpower and other equipments to ensure that the task ahead of us is tackled judiciously.
“It is an act of wickedness when our government invests and encourages more persons into farming, and some elements within the country now prefer to smuggle such foodstuffs to the neighboring countries.
“It has to be stopped and I want to assure residents of the state that we are fully ready and prepared to stop such activities henceforth”
Confirming the arrest, the spokesman of the command, Abdullahi Tsafe Abubakar, said the trucks were intercepted along Gwadabawa – Illela road.
He however said the command was investigating the situation so as to ascertain its destination.
“The trucks were intercepted along Gwadabawa – Illela road on Friday, and due to the volume of the grains, the command has commenced investigation into the circumstances to know the destination of the grains.
“I am sure you know that there is total ban on smuggling of foodstuffs from the country to outside, but in this case, we need to investigate so as to ascertain the circumstances behind the development.
