The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said that more scanners would be deployed in three ports and they would arrive in the country this month.
The disclosure was made by the Zonal Coordinator of Customs, Zone A, ACG Modupe Aremu during a working visit to Apapa, Tincan Island and the Port Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML) commands.
Aremu said that the arrival and deployment of the scanners in Apapa, Tincan and Onne port would help strengthen the fight against smugglers.
READ: House of Reps orders Customs to reduce 18 clearing stages to 4 in 2 weeks
She said, “The scanner is a pictorial of everything that is in the container and that is why the scanner is very important and government is making efforts to see it come in.
“With e-customs, we are going to have over 70 scanners deployed to all seaports and airports.”
The ACG commended the Apapa command for the remarkable feat of generating N87.8 billion in one month and hoped that by December, they would hit N150 billion.
“It is doable, the CAC of Apapa, Comptroller Malanta Yusuf did not achieve this by himself, but with the contribution of officers in his command. They should keep the flag flying and not let the figure go down,” she said.
READ: Nigeria Customs generated N799 billion revenue in 5 months
She emphasised the need for proper port examination and commended them for the seizures they made.
“If there was no proper examination like the container that was seized with drugs, it would have been disastrous if it had entered the society,” she said.
Aremu advised the area controllers what to do on the job training for officers, especially the younger ones coming into the job.
She said that they needed to be aware of the laws and conduct themselves properly on how to do the examination and write the proper report to the authority involved.
Aremu assured the officers that the Comptroller General of Customs was concerned about the welfare of officers.
She said that was why he sent the Deputy Controller General to Lagos to look for where to get land for a hospital of about 50 beds for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Aremu said that contracts had also been awarded for the building of 132 two-bedroom flats for Customs officers, to give them befitting apartments.
The ACG urged officers to come out and testify in court on cases they had as it was not enough to make seizures, but people needed to be prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others.
In case you missed it
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) announced it generated a revenue of N1.003 trillion for the first half of the year, which is over half of its N1.678 trillion revenue target for the year.
