Onne Port: Senate Committee Members Clash with Customs over 70 Containers
By Francis Ugwoke
Members of the Senate Committee on Customs have clashed with the operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) over some containers in Onne port on allegation of trade infractions.
The committee members led by the Chairman, Senator Francis Alimekhena, had visited the seaport for oversight function during which they demanded to witness examination of some of the containers which the Customs Command did not oblige, according to our source.
The Committee members who our source said believe that some of the goods in the ports are not being properly examined had particularly taken interest in 70 containers which they insisted must be examined in their presence before they could be allowed to leave the port.
But the Onne Customs Area Command was said to have objected to this request , a development that angered members of the Committee.
Following the position of the Senators, it was gathered that some customs agents had mobilised an attack against the Senators in their hotel.
Our source added that the Committee had in response used their contact to also mobilize security to ensure that the affected containers did not leave the seaport.
The Committee members were also said to have tried to reach the Comptroller General of Customs, Rtd Col. Hammed Ali to come to Port Harcourt to be part of the examination.
However, the CG, it was gathered could not honour the invitation up till late Tuesday, during which movement of goods out of the seaport was halted.
It was gathered that efforts by some customs officers and clearing agents to make peace with the senators failed as they were not allowed to come to their hotel..
The Committee members had in an effort to ensure that no container left the seaport raised petition alleging infractions, particularly claiming that some of the containers in Onne are not being examined.
The Committee members had left Onne on Tuesday to Abuja apparently for fear of being attacked.
But determined to get to the route of the matter, the Committee had invited the Area Controller, Aliyu Galadima Saidu, to appear before it Thursday to respond to some of the allegations.
Saidu was said to have shunned the invitation.
It would be recalled that the power house in the port was engulfed by fire leading to damage to some computers and equipment in the port, in what observers claimed may have been planned by a mafia group to cause more confusion in the seaport
Saidu when contacted by SHIPPING DAY however insisted that clearing has been going on since last week, saying the Senate Committee could not have stopped customs from performing its statutory function.
On the invitation by the Senate Committee to appear before it in Abuja, Saidu was not forthcoming, but gave an indication that it would not be a big deal if he was invited through the Comptroller-General.
He also denied breaching any trade regulations in Onne Port.
A highly placed customs agent in Onne who is a member of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agent (ANLCA) who did not want to be quoted told SHIPPING DAY that Senator Francis Fadahunsi m who is Deputy Chairman of the Committee, still sees himself as a customs officer for demanding to be part of goods examination in the ports.
He said that what Fadahunsi wanted to achieve through the Senate Committee on Customs was not possible because by law they cannot be part of goods examination in the ports.
Fadahunsi had in January called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack Customs CG, Ali, for incompetence.
He had accused customs of allowing some contraband and firearms into the country, adding that this has worsened security situation.
He alleged, “Customs officers allowed traders to smuggle contraband goods and items into the country and now they are going round to raid their shops, it is wrong.
“They are already inside the country and what they should do is to encourage them to come and pay. I tell you, they will come and pay.
“I told the Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hammed Ali (rtd.), that his border management is poor.
“You don’t need to carry guns and start running after those people who have settled your boys. It is wrong, they paid bribes to the boys at the border and they are still running after them now.
“The border management is poor and it has failed. The same failure is seen at the ports, and that is the cause of port congestion.”
“Soldiers are not trained to generate revenue. They are trained to buy ammunition and to kill.
“This man met more than 30,000 personnel in the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and today they are not more than 15,000 left, he has sacked all of them.
“If you see the fraud in the Customs now, you will be shocked, but nobody must talk. They make noise to cover this up, but if you go into their books, you will be surprised.
“Customs headquarters was awarded for N2.7 billion then, but today the project is going to about N30 billion.
“The project has not been completed but the furniture contract for the uncompleted building has been awarded.
“Who is fooling who? If Mr. President sees what the man is doing, he will run out of the country.
“That is why I am saying that Mr. President should put a technical person from Customs there; if not, the man will run the place aground.
“The CG wants to recruit 3,200 persons and he paid N1.6 billion to a consultant to recruit 3,200 persons. The money is not for training but to just recruit them.
“I asked him if the Nigerian army ever used consultants to recruit personnel and he said no. He said Customs officers are corrupt and he is bringing in a consultant to recruit 3,200 persons and he will pay the firm N1.6 billion.
“Are you recruiting five million people? The N1.6 billion is even in the budget and that is one of the reasons the budget was being queried by the leadership of the Senate.”
About Post Author
