The Onne Port Customs Command of the Nigeria Customs Service through its public relations officer, Benjamin Lomba has revealed the performance of the Command in revenue generation and other activities.
In a press release, the PRO stated that “The Nigeria Customs Service, Area II Command Onne Port, Rivers State generated a total sum of Two hundred and Forty-Two billion, Ninety million, Six hundred and Twenty-Nine thousand, Three hundred and Nine Naira, Twenty-Nine kobo (₦242,090,629,309.29) from duty paid on imported goods in 2022”. This figure represents a 28.3% increase over the duty paid on imported goods in the year 2021.
The press release revealed that the export figure shows “A total of 1,096,646.14 metric tonnes of goods with a total Free On Board (FOB) value of $1,268,038,648.91 which is equivalent to ₦522,102,233,326.76 @ ₦411.7 per dollar were processed through the Area Command while a total of ₦2,713,884,004.19 was recorded for Nigeria Export Supervision Scheme (NESS). This shows a higher revenue compared with the 2021 record of ₦881,011,957.22”.
The PRO added that factors that influenced the impressive figures include robust stakeholders sensitisation resulting in more informed voluntary compliance, strict enforcement of extant guidelines, strategic deployment of officers to the various duty posts and more.
The PRO aslo added that there were other areas were notable achievements were recorded including the commissioning of ultra-modern scanners, upgrading and installation of CCTV cameras around strategic areas of the Command, building of security watch tower among others.
The press release also stated that the Command made a total of 50 seizures with a Duty Paid (Value DPV) of One Billion, Seven Hundred and Sixty One Million, Eight Hundred and Seventy Nine Thousand, Four Hundred and Twenty Eight Naira, Nine Kobo (#1,761,879,428.09.) only with 12,560 cartons of tomato puree, 1,665 cartons of pharmaceutical products and 3,768 bails of used textiles among the seized items.
The Customs Area Controller of the Command, Mohammed Auwal also praised the synergy between the Customs Intelligence Unit, CGC Strike Force, Valuation, Customs Police and Post Clearance Audit and Sister security agencies which include the Nigerian Police Force, Nigerian Immigration Service, the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) among others.
He also praised the untiring efforts of the men of the Command as he also expressed his gratitude to Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd), the Comptroller General of Customs for the usual support accorded to the Command.