Following incessant arrest of containers duly examined by Customs and other government agencies, Police inclusive and released by the officials of the Nigeria Customs Service, the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has written to the new Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris calling for a halt on the part of the Police officers whose action it says impede trade in the international frontiers.
In a congratulatory message to the IGP, the founder of NAGAFF, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam accused the Police of arresting containers outside the ports, airports and land borders without any clear reason adding that in most cases, these officers would tend to delve into technical areas reserved for customs officers trained in that area of technicalities.
Aniebonam pointed out that these activities of the Police officers hampered trade facilitation which the World Trade Organization regarded as very important if not the most important in world trade saying that such interferences in the working of the customs that bring disharmony.
He recalled that there is an Assistant Inspector General of Police, Maritime Services supported by a Commissioner of Police in charge of Ports to effectively oversee the way the Police should synergize with the Nigeria Customs Service for a seamless operation saying that it should be most appropriate and procedural that external Police incursions should be channeled through their offices rather than the present situation, whereby containers were being stopped at the shipping companies from being released to the owners and undue stoppage along the city roads of Lagos and highways without any reasonable suspicion or intelligence report.
According to him,” As stakeholders in the maritime domain of this country, we are looking forward to working with you to stem the peculiar problems that presently confront us on a daily basis during the course of our duties. Some of these problems are seemingly contrived by the very persons that are
supposed to solve them. A classical example which we have over the years stressed is in the area of Police officers delving into the operations of the Nigeria Customs Service. It beats one’s sense of reasoning that after goods have been jointly examined inside the ports by the Customs, Police and other agencies of Government and duly released by the Nigeria Customs whose statutory duty it is to so do, because they have been properly trained for the job, some officers and men of the Nigeria Police will stay outside the ports and arrest such consignments for no clear reason. In most cases they will start to delve into Customs technical duties by saying that the right Customs duty was not paid on such cargo. The question of value of duty payable on cargoes is a very technical area of Customs operation that is based on guidelines given by the board of Customs management. It is the Customs that are trained on how to go about this.
“These activities, to say the least, hamper trade facilitation which the World Trade Organisation regards as a very important, if not the most important, in world trade. There are a myriad of such interferences in the working of the Customs that at times bring disharmony into the inter-agency synergy that one would expect. We took this matter up with the IGP of Police during the tenure of Sir. Mike Okiro and he had at that time issued an order telling Policemen to desist from these acts of interference. But regrettably this has not stopped. If for anything the situation has further been exacerbated presently.
“Whereas we respect the general duty of the Police, it is our belief that a process should be followed by the Police to engage in Customs duty. It is on record that there is an Assistant Inspector General of Police, Maritime Services supported by a sitting Commissioner of Police Ports to effectively oversee the way the Police should synergise with the Nigeria Customs Service for a seamless operation. It shall be most appropriate and procedural that external Police incursions should be channeled through their offices rather than the present situation, whereby containers are being stopped at the shipping companies from being released to the owners and undue stoppage along the city roads of Lagos and
highways without any reasonable suspicion or intelligence report. The inherent extortion and abuse of right of practice and way is most unfortunate”.
While congratulating the new IGP on his recent appointment as the new Inspector-General of Police, the NAGAFF founder who is also the National Chairman of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) believed that he would be up to the task of effectively and purposeful policing Nigeria even as he assured him of the association’s prayer for him.
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