With a thriving hot cash of around N2 trillion annually, smuggling appears to be big business for citizens of Nigeria with their hearts at their back. But the days of their long lasting honey moon are now numbered as the country’s Customs Service is up with more sophisticated weapons to smash their unwholesome trade.
Hameed Ali, Comptroller-General of the Customs, has constituted an anti-smuggling squad code named “Strike Force” to make mincemeat of the smuggling ring in the country.
Before now, President Muhammadu Buhari had during the 2018 budget presentation to the National Assembly said that his administration will come down hard on smugglers because they are doing the country a lot of damage.
Audu Ogbeh, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, had also expressed regrets that the activities of rice smugglers have led to a loss of $5 billion annually for the country. ”Government will intensify efforts to curtail their activities”, the minister said.
In fact, the World Bank says smugglers are costing Nigeria $5 billion worth of loss per annum. At the current exchange regime, this translates to around N2.00 trillion.
Without doubts, smuggling has reached an unprecedented level with the boom in global oil prices since 2008. Though it is hard to provide firm estimates, in November 2011, for instance, the Republic of Benin Finance Minister acknowledged that more than 75 per cent of the fuel consumed in their country was illegally impoted from Nigeria.
In Togo, a country with a population of six million, a 250-litre barrel sells for $300. This is a small fortune in a country where about two-thirds of the population live in poverty. Some smugglers and local dignitaries have reaped generous rewards, and “micro-petro-states” have sprung up on either side of the border between Togo and Benin, where “local officials … are largely independent of national law and its enforcement”, according to information published on ThinkAfricaPress website.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says stopping such a flourishing trade is unthinkable in a region where the informal economy is predominant, accounting for more than 70 per cent of jobs in sub-Saharan Africa.
This implies that this illegal business entails a net loss for the constrained budgets of the affected countries like Nigeria.
In the mean time, Joseph Attah, Customs Public Relations Officer, said in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city the Strike Force squad will be under the co-ordination of a Deputy Comptroller assisted by four Assistant Comptroller of Customs, pointing out that the squad will be posted to the four zonal offices of the Service in Lagos, Kaduna, Bauchi and Port Harcourt, each zone to be headed by an Assistant Comptroller.
According to Attah, part of the mandate of the strike force was to check the activities of Customs officers. ”The Customs strike force is set up to replace compliance team. This squad is to operate under a different strategy.
The squad is empowered to enter any command system on suspicion of fraudulent activities taking place or about to take place with a view to blocking all revenue leakages from the system. It is allowed to partake in the examination of any suspected container generated by the ICT,”
He said the squad will ensure that all unutilised Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) bill of lading, as well as air way bills was accounted for. ”They are to monitor the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) in order to checkmate capital flight and PAAR merchandise.This is what they are expected to do, their operation is fashioned this way to be in line with the demand of the executive order on the Ease of Doing Business.”
The Customs spokesman also noted that the strike force will not erect checkpoints or roam the highways except on credible information by the surveillance operatives of the Service, pointing out that it will treat the information and return to base. It is the desire of the CGC to sanitise the system for optimum performance.
”This particular strategy will enhance free flow of goods on our high ways. No hinter land or highway patrol by the team, the surveillance team will work for 24 hours and their work is not intended to impede free flow of goods,” he said.