Controversies Over Customs “Monitoring Unit” in Apapa Customs

By DAPO OLAWUNI

The Vice President of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Dr Kayode Farinto has accused the Customs Area Controller of Apapa Command of Nigeria Customs Service, Compt Yusuf Malanta of setting up a Monitoring Unit which according to him is alien to cargo clearance process at the command.

Farinto in a chat with newsmen in his office last week equally alleged that the Customs Controller’s claim of no alerts in Apapa Command was false and misleading.

He said the CAC had in a chat with press men recently claimed that there are no alerts on cargoes at the command.

The ANLCA Vice President states that “The CAC, Yusuf Malanta is my very good friend, and I don’t like to play to the gallery, but he is lying.
How can you tell me there is no alert in Apapa? I track cargo on a daily basis in Apapa port

“The Customs would go and bring people who are not licensed agents, people whom they are helping, and be telling you journalists what they want you to hear”

“I had an issue recently when monitoring unit had to stop my consignment, this monitoring unit was the CAC’s design. Before his era, there was nothing like monitoring unit in Apapa where they put alerts on consignments, he is the one that brought it”

“We would ask the House of Assembly to put them under oath, and if they are found to be telling lies, that is perjury, it is three years imprisonment” Farinto stated.

The Public Relations Officer of the Apapa Customs Command, Usman Abubakar in a chat with DAILY TREND NEWS however debunked the allegations levelled against the command by Farinto.

Usman stated that there was no monitoring unit created at the command, and that clearly, Dr Farinto had misinterpreted the statement of the Area Controller concerning the alerts.

According to him, what the Area Controller stated in his chat with journalists was that, there was no “double alerts” on cargoes at the command.

Usman stated that the command operates a one-stop-shop where all issues of alerts or challenges in cargo clearance procedures are treated with speed.

“We don’t have a single monitoring team in Apapa, to the best of my understanding and knowledge. You may wish to probe further.

“He shouldn’t misquote the controller please. What the man said was “there is no double alert in the command”. Meaning, if your consignment is alerted by say, CIU. Valuation or CPC, they won’t put another alert to the already existing one”

“In essence, there is one-stop shop where every alert issue is resolved in tandem with best practices.
I can say without any fear of contradiction that, we don’t have monitoring unit in Apapa Command” he said.