By Stephen Ubanna
Haniel Addison a Deputy Comptroller, DC, of Customs, may not have bargained to be appointed by Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, to oversee the disposal overtime cargo across the country.
A senior Customs officer who spoke to The Value News online Magazine on condition of anonymity recently at Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, recently, disclosed that ever since DC. Hadison took over from Compt. Osoba who was formerly in-charge of the overtime cargo disposal in the office of the Comptroller General, he was said to have done quite a lot to sanitize the office which was said to have been penetrated by racketeers making brisk business on a daily basis.
The situation was so bad that vehicles and Containereized cargoes that were said to have been auctioned at some of the terminals, particular, in Lagos, the nation’s Commercial nerve centre were said to have developed wings.

Informed sources told The Value News that the problem was more pronounced at Port Multi-services Terminal Limited, PML, under the close watch of Compt. Enny Daniyan, controlled vehicle terminal, around Mile II, and Five Star, Logistics Limited a terminal under the Tincan Island Command port and Kirikiri Lighter Terminal, KLT, phases I and ii.
Instances, abound where some Federal High Court condemned vehicles that were said to have been auctioned and the beneficiaries paid all the required duties to First Bank, Nig. plc, described as ‘’the Best Duty Collecting Bank in volume and remittances to the Federation Account’’ through the PTML, Command account but suddenly got missing at the terminal with no trace of it.
The question on the lips of most people was which delivery paper did the ‘’port thieves’’ use to exit the vehicle from the terminal without the Collaboration of insiders.
The online Magazine had sighted an auction paper of alleged direct allocation of goods to Alluminium Services, on August 16, 2024, believed to have fulfilled all the requirements including the payment of the Auction fee and Value Added Tax, VAT, inclusive. The beneficiary was said to have been authorized to take delivery of one Unit of Toyota Corolla, Chassis No. 060019, but subject to the payment of 25% of the auction fee being the terminal and shipping Charges.
The alleged auction paper which was said to have facilitated the release of the made in Japan Toyota Corolla from Five Star was said to have been signed one UB. Ogomuo, for the DC. Enforcement. The alleged stolen vehicle from Five Star Logistics Limited at Tin can Island port was said to have been owned by one Cornelius Ojo Olarenwaju, an Assistant Comptroller of Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, and who was said to have paid the duties and terminal and shipping charges but lost to another undisclosed allottee.

As at Friday, December 13, 2024, the retired NIS, Assistant Comptroller, who had been shuttling between Lagos and the Customs Headquarters Abuja, has not been settled, let alone seeing DC. Addison to present his case to him because of the tight security in his office. There are several others like him, including Journalists who were said to have had same problem.
The rot at the terminals may have filtered to the ears of Greg Itodo, a Deputy Comptroller General of Customs, who was said to have held brief for Adeniyi, the Customs Comptroller General for the period he was outside the country that he fears that there are people who are out ‘’to sabotage the good works of DC. Hadison’’ in the allocation of overtime cargoes to beneficiaries who had met the stipulated requirement.
If the Customs DCG, have had his way, he would have to set up a high-powered Investigation Team to probe into the rot at the terminals before it gets out of hand that may rubbish the good image that the service had built over the last one year under the Leadership of the CG. Adeniyi.
DC. Addison, may have known that there are lapses at the terminals that he had at different occasions travelled to Lagos to settle disputes between importers of auctioned vehicles and the allottees. He was aid to have settled some of the cases out of Court by asking the importer’s agent to settle the allottee of the auctioned vehicles of all the expenses that had been incurred to recover his or her vehicle.
Indeed, much of the problems currently being experienced at the terminals were said to have been created by the former Customs Comptroller overseeing the overtime cargo office as there was no proper documentation of the auctioned vehicles and Containerized Cargoes. Reports had it that there cases of auction of one vehicle to two different persons, who were said to have the relevant duties and charges to the Command where the vehicle is domiciled but the first to arrive may take delivery of it leaving the other person in the cold.
The Athletic-built, DC. Hadison, who would not want any person to, rubbish his track records which had taken years to build in the service was said to have moved swiftly to block all the loopholes that had been exploited in the past to make mockery of his efforts and his officers.
As a prelude to ensure proper management of the Court Condemned overtime cargoes, the Customs Comptroller General was said t have to set a committee, with members drawn from the NCS, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and ministers of Justice, Finance, Nigerian Police Force, NPF, under the close watch of Kayode Egbetokun, Department of State Security, DSS, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, and National Agency For Food and Drug Administration, NAFDAC.
Other appointees into the Committee were said to have been drawn from Economic and Financial crime Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, among others.
At the port level, the DC. Hadison, was said to have set smaller Committee with members drawn from the ports, terminals, Shipping Companies and the security agencies to ensure that the right thing is dome.
This is to avoid the mistakes of the past where the terminal operators had managed the exit of the allocated cargoes from the terminals, which may have given room for the cloning of the Customs auction papers duly signed and vehicle released to the thief.
In spite of the difficulties being experienced by some of the overtime cargo allotees at PTML, Five Star and other terminals in Lagos in Lagos, an Abuja, Federal High Court, which had condemned 30 unclaimed vehicles on the request of the office of the Comptroller General , which had the approval of Wale Edun, minister of Finance and Coordinating minister of the Economy, was said to have service the nod to go ahead and auction the items in according with the Customs 2023, Management Act, signed into Law former President Muhammadu Buhari, currently being implemented at the Command levels and proceeds remitted into the Federation Account.
Late last November, based on Complaints by aggrieved Nigerians who had lost their allocated vehicles to thieves at the ports and terminals, particular, in Lagos, may have informed why the Customs Authorities had sought two Orders from the Abuja Federal High Court to condemning and and orfeit to the service vehicles that had been listed as overtime cargo.
In giving the Judgement authorizing the NCS, ‘’ to sell the listed condemned 30 vehicles ‘’by auction, Government Wharehouse, Karu, Abuja, a to members of the public or by the other means that the service may want to deem appropriate to actualize its objective.
Wale Kembi, the NCS, Lawyer, who was said to have secured the Court Judgement condemning and getting the importers to forfeit the listed 30 vehicles to the service from Justice ,Inyang Ekwo , may have given him a cause to heave a sigh of relief.

YM.Ibrahim, a Customs Inspector, at the Government WhareHouse , Karu, may have spoken the mind of other officers overseeing other Government Warehouses across the country, where seized smuggled vehicles from smugglers are kept when he disclosed that ‘’the seizures were made on the instructions of the Customs Comptroller General’’, who is determined to contain the activities of the smugglers who had constituted great threat ‘’to the health and viability of the nation’s economy’’.
He had alluded to the fact that the consignees/importers of the unclaimed vehicles with their agents and their collaborators, both within and outside the service had played into Customs patrol team hands on the road as they were said to have attempted to smuggle the vehicles and other Contraband into Nigeria.
The suspected smugglers who were said to have abandoned the vehicles on the road and escaped into the bush to escape arrest may have given the Customs patrol Teams, the audacity to transfer the smuggled vehicles and other of such unclaimed cargoes to Government Wherehouse, to the Government WhareHouse in any part of the country where is Customs office complex.
DC. Hadison, may have to take advantage of the availability of new condemned, in Lagos,unclaimed vehicles and other Containerised cargoes at PTL, Five Star Logistics and other Bonded Terminals in Lagos to replace the allottees which vehicles and Containers after payment of duties and terminal charges had developed wing.