Customs Rakes N130b in 6 Months from Tin Can Island

By Dipo Olowookere

About N130 billion was generated by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at the Tin Can Island Command of the agency in Lagos in the first half of 2017.

This information was revealed on Tuesday by spokesman of the command, Mr Uche Ejesieme, in a revenue chart and statement made available to maritime reporters.

A breakdown of the table showed that the agency precisely generated N129.93 billion between January and June this year.

Mr Ejesieme attributed this to the command’s zero tolerance for false declaration or other infractions.

In the first month of 2017, the agency at Tin Can Island raked N19.83 billion, while in the next month it earned N21 billion for the Federal Government.

In March, N20.95 billion was made from activities at the port, and N20.31 billion was realised in April.

In May, the command generated N23.87 billion, while in June, N23.97 billion was collected as revenue for the government.

Mr Ejesieme said in the statement that the Customs Area Controller in charge of the command, Comptroller Yusuf Bashar, has promised to identify all areas of revenue leakages and then block them.

“The controller has also said that any attempt by an importer and or his agent to circumvent the process will be dealt with seriously,” the spokesman said.

Mr Ejesieme noted that the command has continued to take welfare of its personnel very serious, saying things have been put in place to make them happy and work efficiently.

These welfare packages put in place to motivate customs’ personnel at the command, according to him, include “a well-equipped clinic, ICT centre with 30 work stations fully networked for training and capacity building of officers and other stakeholders.”

He called for more corporation of all stakeholders.

The Tin Can Island Port complex is a merger of the former Roro and Tin Can Island Ports. This merger was done in 2006.

The port, located in Apapa, Lagos, was built in 1981, but began operations in 1997.