By Femi Anamelechi
Comptroller of Lilypond Ecport Command A.Jibola Odusanya while addressing press at the Apmoller Terminals Apapa on Wednesday 27 November 2024 , condemned the illegal smuggling of unprocessed woods because of the negative effects on forestation, climate change and also the fight on unemployment in the country
He pointed out the the briefing was imperative to deterring exporters from violating the law in the course of doing their business.
“As you all know, this command is dedicated to overseeing export trade and has brought a lot of improvements in support of the Federal Government drive to promote non- oil expor”
CGC Odusanya reiterated the resolve of the command not to sacrifice compliance on the altar of trade facilitation. He said we shall always prevent the export of any consignment that run in conflict with the laws of our country. This underscore s the latest fight against smuggling and defiance to extant Customs laws and regulations.
The Lilypond Export Command acting on credible intelligence with combined team of officers of the Customs Intelligence Unit (CIU) following the discharge of some export bound containers at the barge area of Apapa Port on October 11, 2024 intercepted and detained containers suspected to being used for smuggling. On physical examinationt a total of Eleven units of 20FT containers fully laden with Rough/Sawn Timber ere sized
The containers are estimated to have a Marlevalue of Two Hundred and Ninety-Five Thousand, Nine Hundred and Forty- Four US Dollars ($295,944.00
He said the contrabands “contained raw and unprocessed timber which contravenes Schedule 6 of the Common External Tarif ETY Particulars of these Eleven containers are TRLU9354677, MRKU9991028. MSKUS05 1480, MRKU7071 648, TCLU2179830, TCLU2179830, MSKUS894593, MSKUS05 1480, MRKU7071648, TCLU2543324. MSKU3929849, MSKUS894593, GAOU2550990, MSKU7323470, MSKUS953248, and Going by the provisions of Sections 148,149 and 150 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023”
Speaking further he said , “we expect these seizures to serve as deterrent to any person or export trader planning to perpetuate similar offence and assure that the long arms of the law would catch up with anyone that dares the resolve.
The fight against Smuggling is in furtherancr of the CGC’s zero tolerance for smuggling, even in the area of export.
“It goes further to confirm our alertness with the support of other units within the service and sister government agencies to detect and prevent criminal activities in the area of export”
He urged Small, Medium and Large-scale exporters to take advantage of the easy processes and window of opportunities provided by the Federal Government to encourage export trade.
“We shall continue to engage our partners and stakeholders as mandated by the CGC following the theme of the World Customs Organization for 2024 and that of the recently Aheld 2024 Comptroller General of Customs Conference”
The representative og the Director of the Director, Federal Departrment of Forestry, Dr. (Mrs.) Hajara Umar Sami while expressing her appreciation of the collaborative efforts with the NCS said Forest play a critical role for the Global Environment, population and the economy.
Sustainably managed forests provide key services, contributing significantly to ecological stability, climate regulation (adaptation & mitigation), biodiversity conservation and sustainable development among other numerous roles.
According to her ‘the Forest-based sector across it’s value chain provides employment for over 13 Million workers” . She therefore called for more synergy with stakeholders and other agencies in the fight against deforestation.
