The Edo/Delta Command of the Nigeria Customs Service on Monday lamented that the shallowness of the Escravos channel was causing the low number of vessels calling at the Warri Port.
Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Alajogun Olaniyi, who disclosed this to newsmen in Warri while reacting on the border closure ,said before the closure, the command had not been getting many cargoes from larger vessels because of the shallowness of the Escravos channel.
Olaniyi said: “So there is no way the border closure could have changed that narrative because the obstacles which are the shallowness of the channels that are preventing the vessels from coming into Warri port is still there.
“Edo/Delta command is essentially a revenue command and not an enforcement command, we do not have patrol team on the road.
“The seizure we can only make can be from goods that come through the sea and because of the low level of activities in this place, we do not actually make seizures,” he said.
The Area Controller also disclosed the command generated N1.8 billion revenue in January 2020.
Olaniyi also said the command had been saddled with the responsibility of collecting N2.7 billion monthly amounting to N32 billion target in 2020.
“In January, we made N1.8 billion, it is always like that at the beginning of every year all over the places because businessmen are expecting what budget and government policies will look like.
“Before now, our monthly collection used to be N1.5 billion and for the entire year, we are supposed to collect N18 billion.
“On Tuesday, the headquarters rolled out the target for 2020 and Edo/Delta command has been saddled with the responsibility of collecting N2.7 billion every month and a yearly collection of N32 billion.
“The target given to the Nigerian customs service for this year is almost N2 trillion hence the upward review of what every command must collect.
“The revenue that we will be collecting will largely be based on the volume of cargoes that we are able to get considering the peculiar nature of the Warri port.
“It is not very active, but we are hopeful that things will get better.
“However, on our part, the best we can do is to ensure that the little cargoes that come, we collect all the collectible revenues by putting in our best expertise and making sure no revenue that is supposed to go into government coffers goes untapped,” he said.
The customs boss noted that the command generated N22 billion in 2019 as against the target of N18 billion.“The command had a revenue target of N18,02 billion in 2019. The total revenue collected within the period under review is N22,181 billion.
“Comparatively, the revenue collected for the year under review is N6.35 billion higher than that of 2018 which was N16 billion with the same revenue target of N18.023 billion.
Comptroller Olaniyi urged his officers and men to reciprocate the generosity by doing their job diligently to achieve the general goals and objectives of the Nigerian customs service.
Olaniyi commended the Federal Government for taking the bold step to dredge the Warri river, adding that the development would galvanize activities in the Warri port and by extension the command, as soon as the project was completed.
The customs Controller also commended the leadership of the customer service for providing the necessary welfare and logistics for officers and men of the command.
