By Stephen Ubanna
Between May, 2024, and now, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, Comptroller General, Nigerian Customs Service, NCS,had beamed his searchlight on the activities at the Apapa Command under the close watch of Compt. Babatunde Olomomu. He has his reason.
This is because the Command handles over 60% of the volume of cargoes imported into the country on a yearly basis, collects the highest import duties from the non-oil sector the service. It is not surprising why it has been saddled with a higher responsibility and much expectations from the Management and the government at the Federal level.
The Customs Comptroller General, who appears to be pleased with the performance of the Customs Area Controller and his officers’ performance over the last three months was said to have urged them to sustain he impressive track records without dropping midway.
Many believe that the Customs Comptroller General could easily know the Area Controllers that are doing good job in their respective Commands having worked with some past Comptroller General Generals of the service, including Hameed Ali, a retired Army Colonel, as the service former National Public Relations Officer that took him round all the Customs formations across the country where he had opportunity of meeting the former Area Controllers and interacting with them.
Indeed, the Customs helmsman may have used the same yardstick in assessing the performance of the former Area Controllers as the Customs spokesperson to know that those performing under the present Management team under his Leadership. This is evident with the various seizures of arms at Tin-Can Island port, Onne port, and Murtala Muhammed Airport, Command.
Comptrolle Olomu, who may have been fully prepared to deal decisively with the fraudulent importers with their agents at the premier port because of his experience as a one- time, DC, Enforcement, of the Apapa Command during the Administration of then Compt. Yususuf Malanta, who had retired from the service as an Assistant Comptroller General of Customs.
With the brief period, he had served as the Command DC, Enforcement he had made life uncomfortable for the Tramadol and other dangerous and fake pharmaceutical products through the premier port, unconfutable. The situation was so worrisome that some of the VIP, importers who could no longer find it funny were said to have used their contacts at the Customs Headquarters to pull him out from the Command but no luck.
They have heaved a sigh of relief when he was eventually redeployed to the Custom Headquarters. Unknown to them it was not their phone calls or visits to the Customs Headquarters to have one on one talks with their contacts that had facilitated his redeployment to the Headquarters but his promotion to the enviable rank of Comptroller.
When information filtered out last April, , that he has been penciled down to take over from Compt. Babajide Jayeioba, rtd, the VIP, importers with their agents who are used to doing jobs knew that their troubles have just begun.
Given his experience as the Officer – in-charge of the Command, Enforcement unit, some years ago, he was said to have fully mobilized his Management team, comprising of DCs. Wale Adenuga, Revenue. Nwanze, Enforcement, Ibrahim Turaki, APMT described as one of the biggest private terminals in the Wet African subregion and other DCs, heading strategic units in the Command, including DC. Valuation, to achieve results.
The Customs Comptroller made a bold statement to clip the wings of the fraudulent importers with their agents by sending a message to them that it is no longer going to be business as usual when he scattered the sit-tight assistant Comptrollers at the APMT, who maritime analysts had said have been collaborating with them over the years to do dirty jobs
. Informed sources told The Value News that there was intense pressure on past Area Controllers of the Command to sanitize the terminal, but the Assistant Comptrollers who were said to be well- connected at the Customs Headquarters had, remained untouchable. It was gathered that even at the Command Management meetings level the issue of the too many idle Assistant Comptrollers at the Container Terminal had been discussed but nothing came out of it.
Compt. Olomu, who was not ready to take it, let alone give room to any officer to spoil his track records which has taken years to build may have taken the bull by the horn to do the unexpected: touch the untouchables at APMT, to restore sanity. He was said to have virtually deployed all the sit-tight Assistant Assistant Comptrollers at the APMT, leaving only a manageable few overseeing DC. Turaki, described as revenue mobilizer, in Customs circles to work with and the results achieved so far have been commendable.
Only recently, the Command ha intercepted and made a seizure of 12 Containers load of illicit pharmaceutical products with a street market value of N1.8 billion. Given an insider information why unveiling the seized contraband items on the invitation of the Apapa Customs Comptroller on Thursday, August,15, 2024, the Comptroller General, who could not hide his feelings had said that one of the ‘’40’’ Containers with number segu3991, had been declared to contain Baclofen tablets, Metoprolol Succinate, Atenolol gloves, Hydrochlorothiazide, Atorvastain Calcium, Esomepraprazole Madnesium, Diclofenac Sodium Topical Gel, Valsartan tablets, Losartan Potassium, and Timolol Maleate.
An aggrieved Adeniyi, Magnesium noted that upon examination, with the various security agencies , detailed to be at the part including the Department of State Service, DSS, personnel, the Container was found to be laden with daily health immune supplements that had expired July this 2024.
Other expired Pharmaceutical products found in the intercepted ‘’40’’ Container included Acyclovir capsules, that had expired last April, Valsartan tablets , 20mg and 160mg , that expired in June 2024, Prednisone tablets , USP 10mg, that expired in June 2024, , major Aspirin , low dose pain reliever , 81mg that was said to have also expired in June , 2024.
Other expired pharmaceutical products found in the ‘’40’’ Container were said to be Magnesium oxide tablets, 420mg, which was said to have expired in June , 2024, as well, Clofenac Sodium Topical Gel, expiring in December, 2024, and oral rehydration solution mix that was said to have expired in July 2024, and multiple nutrient supplements expiring in December , 2025 and other regulated medical items.
The Customs Helmsman may have shocked Nigerians when he stated that some of the Containers loaded with the expired and unexpired pharmaceutical products did not carry the required NationalAgency for Food and Drug Administration Commission,, NAFDAC, number .
He ha said that another ‘’20’’ Container with registration number DFSU 1362498, was found to contain cartons of royal tramadol , 22mg, concealed with expired cartons of really extra analgesic, antiseptic and inflammatory tablets without a NAFDAC, number as well.
The Customs boss , had said that if the expired or controlled pharmaceutical products, which had been seized due to false declarations to evade duties , describing it as amounting to smuggling had been allowed to exit the port, it would have posed a threat to the country’s security.
The Customs fears that if the expired and controlled drugs fall into the waiting hands of the Islamic Fundamentalist s Group, Boko Haram fighters or the slamic States of West African Province , ISWAP, in the north eastern states of Borno,Yobe , it would worsen the insecurity situation in the region.
He di not stop there. He fears that it have also fallen into the hands of the Bandit Group fighters in Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna, Katsina, home state of former President Muhammadu Buhari, including those in the north central state of Niger , Kidnappers and the Indigenous People of Biafra , IPOB, founded by Nnandi Kanu, who is currently in the custody of Department of DSS, under the close watch of Yusuf Magai Bichi, and the Eastern Security Network, fighters, that would influence their behavior and other individuals involved such criminal activities.
Besides the seizure of the 12 Container loads of expired and controlled pharmaceutical products , the Command, was said to have also impounded and seized thousands of cutlasses concealed with other goods in one of the Containers seized. The cutlasses, according to an insider was said to have been imported from the Asian country of China, an indications that the 12, Container load seized illicit pharmaceutical products may have originated from China as well or another Asian country of India.Whichever way, industry stakeholders believe that most of the illicit drugs, including arms and ammunitions that have found their way into the Nigerian market are from China, India and Turkey.
An insider told the online Magazine that even without discovering the expire and controlled drugs including the cutlasses , at the APMT, DC .Oyeka and his officers at the exit gate at the exit gate, could still have intercepted the Containers and transfer them to the Enforcement unit for re-examination as information had already filtered out about it.
