Oneyka’s Trade Facilitation, Compliance Agenda at Tin Can Port

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By Onyinye Apeh
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Said to rank as the second biggest and busiest seaport for the landing of imports, the Tin-Can Island Port is also on record as the biggest receiver of imported vehicular cargo.
It boasts of the biggest industrial machineries and car terminals, while also serving as a major outlet for liquid cargo. Tin-Can Island Port coming second to the premier Apapa Port has come a long way and has seen both the good, the bad and ugly.
Until recently, it ranked as the most notorious customs area command with the highest incidents of cargo clearance crimes ranging from a port that supports the reign of missing containers to container flying, criminal concealments and trafficking to under declaration of cargo and underpayment of customs duty; all of which according to those whose business it is to know, say are driven by criminal syndicate that specializes in falsification and the pushing of cargo documents through what is known in local parlance as ‘machine outside.
Machine outside is the pseudonym for the criminal tampering and cloning of original documents, data and information. It is believed it the regime dates back to the late 2005.
Upon assumption of duty as the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Frank Onyeka who has served previously as the Deputy Comptroller of Enforcement, Apapa Area Command, apparently not unfamiliar with the unwholesome sharp practices for which Tin-Can Port has become known, immediately keyed into strategies already put in place by his predecessor, Comptroller Dera Nnadi mni (now ACG Nnadi), to tame or at least to mitigate the evil to its barest minimum.
In keeping with his pledge during his takeover ceremony in December 2024 to implement trade facilitation and promote national security through trade compliance, Comptroller Onyeka has demonstrated commitment and resilience as he throttles down on the lever, determined to align with the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC) strategic performance agenda: as it affects trade facilitation, national security and compliance.
With a unique sense of leadership approach, Comptroller Onyeka has since taken every bold but steady steps to reinforce and strengthen customs trade in addition to sharpening the dynamics of the rules of engagement for the promotion of all the attributes of compliance.
These are exemplified in quick turnaround time, increased stakeholders civic responsibility to national values and ethos, discouragement of criminal tendencies in trade, reduction in operational downtime, improved professionalism by officers and men; and the collective ideal to promote national growth through best practices.
A man with unshakable conviction in making hay while the sun shines; Onyeka hit the ground running as if he was afraid that tomorrow may be too late. He is obviously one of those who believe in doing the right things at the right time, with religious zeal of not wanting to wait until tomorrow, what should and can be done, today.
Barely a month after he assumed leadership, the Tin-Can customs helmsman called a meeting of stakeholders in the freight subsector to bring them up to speed on some of the emerging policies of the federal government being implemented by the Nigeria Customs Service.
Among other issues of common interest, Onyeka also sensitized the stakeholders on the implementation of the 4% Free on Board (FOB) levy and the new Unified Customs Management System known as B’Odogwu; which was before the suspension of the 4% FOB levy.
The 2-day interactive sessions held at the Command Conference Room on Thursday February 6 and Friday February 7, 2025, with experts from both the private and public sectors, created an atmosphere for robust interaction and dialogue bothering on new business initiatives and operational applications.

Speaking on the B’Odogwu Clearance System, Onyeka urged the stakeholders to begin to prepare themselves seriously for the launch of the scheme in the command, which he said would be soonest.
He explained that every reforms is designed to create a more trade friendly environment for all port users even as he warned that his administration expects stakeholders increased compliance to countermand the regime of multiple alerts on cargo.
He promised to continue to engage stakeholders as at when necessary, noting “this is a crucial part of ensuring the success of these initiatives. Through constant collaboration and feedback, we aim to address concerns, foster a better understanding of the processes, and ultimately ensure smooth implementation of these policies.”
While the command under his watch generated a total of N116, 412,735,766.23 in January 2025 which represents 24.06% over and above the figure of N88, 430,126,122.76 recorded within the corresponding period of 2024, he expressed optimism that given the level of consolidation on the strategies he inherited and at the new impetus, the command’s performance cannot but be better and better; including its revenue projections for the year 2025.
Last week, Onyeka handed seized consignment of imported illicit drug worth over N8 billion to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
He explained that the successful interception of the offensive items was the outcome of collaboration and intelligence sharing between the customs and men of the anti-narcotic agency.
Comptroller Onyeka disclosed that the two units of 20FT containers which were intercepted in different batches, were falsely declared as used cars and used auto spare parts, imported from Canada.
Giving the breakdown of the two 20 ft seized containers he explained that the container with registration number TCNU 194586/1 was intercepted on February 27, 2025 and found to contain 128 packets of Cannabis Indica, weighing 63.75 kilograms with an estimated street value of N414.37 million.
“The second container with no. MSMU 838666/3 was intercepted on the 12 of December , 2024 and was found to contain 97 packets of Crystals Methamphetamine, weighing a total of 78.3 kilograms with an estimated street value of N2 billion and 1,735 packets of Cannabis Indica with a total weight of 867.5 kilograms and an estimated street value of N5.63 billion, which brought the total street value of the seized drugs to N8.05 billion,” Onyeka said.
A top flyer administrator with a firm, knowledgeable and competent grip on men and resources, and given his versatility in customs administration in addition to his impressive anti-smuggling credential, Onyeka’s recent posting perhaps signposts yet again, an insightful, very instructive and result driven posting by the Adeniyi led customs management.
Like his predecessor, Onyeka has so far proved that the NCS does not only prioritizes stakeholders utmost friendly trading atmosphere but one that also require stakeholders to step up their participation through increased compliance; thereby helping to expand the scope of mutual reliance and trust; upon which the nation’s quest for a thriving economy and national security can be built.