Apapa Customs to subject all containers to 100% examination
… As new CAC warns releasing officers on the new order
Scanning machines may have little to do at Apapa Customs command as the new Area Controller of the command, Controller Auwal Muhammed gave a marching order that all container must be subjected to 100 per cent examination.
Giving the order on Friday as part measures to sustain the tempo he met at the Apapa Command Comptr. Auwal declared that due diligence should be observed in cargo clearance at all times.
As a result he stressed that all containers landing and leaving Apapa Port will henceforth be subjected to 100% examination.
The new controller made the declaration at the ceremony where his predecessor, newly promoted acting Assistant Controller General (ACG) Malanta I. Yusuf, handed over the command to him.
Muhammed said that he will ensure that importers, Customs agents and freight forwarders comply with all the extant import guidelines through constant engagement.
He sounded a note of warning on releasing officers to ensure that no container leaves the port without undergoing 100 per cent examination.
He expects the officers to exhibit high level of integrity in cargo releasing in order to avoid release of cargo in error.
Auwal said he was delighted to be in Apapa command and was fully ready for the job, adding that he would sustain the tempo and improve on the level of achievements of his predecessor.
He urged all the command’s staff to double their efforts and extend their cooperation to him just as they did to acting ACG Yusuf.
The new CAC advised freight forwarders and other stakeholders to always declare their cargo correctly, saying that there won’t be delay once cargo is declared correctly.
“I am not going to entertain non-compliant traders. To avoid delay, I am urging you to make proper declaration,” he cautioned.
Speaking earlier, the outgoing Controller, Acting ACG Yusuf, described Auwal as a man of due diligence. “Comptroller Mohammed Auwal is a diligent officer who upholds due process always. We are now in the era of due process. I know you can do better than we have done,” Yusuf told Auwal.
Yusuf, who is going to be in charge of Modernization at the Customs headquarters in Abuja, said correct declaration is key, saying that without correct declaration over N1.5 trillion collected in 2022 would not have been possible
The outgoing controller dedicated this and other successes achieved to officers and men of the command and urged the new CAC to continue with the ongoing remodeling of the Command offices.
Earlier, at the parade ground, officers who have distinguished themselves at their different units which include the command’s age maker, CSC Abubakar Usman were presented with Certificates of Honour.
.