The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has generated ₦1.02 trillion at its Apapa Area Command in the first half of the year.
Customs Area Controller, Apapa Command, Babatunde Olomu, announced this at a news conference in Lagos on Monday.
He stated that this figure represents a 143 percent increase over the ₦421.38 billion generated during the same period in 2023.
Olomu emphasized that the agency’s efforts to promote and facilitate trade are yielding significant results.
“Our efforts have been mainly targeted at preventing revenue losses, improving ease of doing business, and engaging stakeholders,” Olomu said.
He noted that the command achieved this amount despite a significant reduction in trade volume.
“We have implemented measures to prevent government revenue loss by using a blend of intelligence and community relations,” he added.
During the review period, the command intercepted 11 containers of regulated items, such as expired drugs, contraband goods, and frozen birds worth ₦424 million, compared to 42 seizures with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of ₦1.4 billion in the corresponding period of 2023.
“These seizures were made from dishonest importers attempting to smuggle goods into Nigeria,” he stated.
The News Agency reports that the command uncovered a large quantity of expired and unregistered pharmaceuticals in three 40ft containers.
Additionally, another three 40ft containers were found loaded with 7,580 cartons of frozen poultry products unfit for human consumption.
Olomu explained that these smuggled items violated Schedule Three of the revised import prohibition list of the Common External Tariff (CET) and Section 233 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023.
