The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has accused terminal operators and clearing agents of sabotaging the usage of the newly installed $18 million scanners at the nation’s seaports.
Recall that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, last year commissioned three mobile cargo scanners to checkmate the importation of arms, ammunition and other prohibited items through the ports.
The Customs Area Controller of TinCan Island Ports, Adekunle Oloyede, who disclosed this to journalists at the command recently, said terminal operators aided the non-compliance level of scanning cargoes with their refusal to provide trucks to take cargoes to the scanning site.
He said the clearing agents have also not been compliant owing to fear of being exposed, thereby making examination and clearing of containers cumbersome.
“At least, 80 per cent of containers should go through the scanner and those that do not have a query should be released immediately. But even the terminal operators find it difficult to provide trucks, which will bring the containers to the scanning. We can’t work in silos,” he said.
Oloyede said that even if there are 80 scanners, the terminal operators are not willing to provide trucks, noting that customs intend to buy more mobile scanners and place them by the quay to scan containers.
“To make sure compliance level is compulsory, the scanning machines will be at the quayside because they are mobile machines that can move from one point to another. So, if I have three mobile scanners at the quayside, it is enough for Tin Can port. I can put two mobile scanners for the trucks to load.
“The scanners can scan under 30 seconds for a 20ft container and 55 seconds for a 40ft container. So we can scan 400 in a day with this analysis, even more than that because at that point I am not analysing, I am only scanning for record purposes.
“When eventually you are ready for your clearance, the risk tool will tell me what is to be scanned and then the analysis will just go to the system, take your reference number and then your container image pops up, which is what we intend to do very soon,” he said.
Oloyede said some HS codes have been imputted into the scanning machine, adding that once the commodities are mentioned, it scans them.
He said that most people don’t declare what they have in their containers, either because of regulatory permits or to cheat the government, especially when they import hard drugs and prohibited items.
Oloyede said the command intends to scan all containers regardless of the risk management, adding that even if it goes for physical examination, the image can be called up without going to the scanning site, which will reduce human interface.
