By Uzor Odigbo
Team A of the Comptroller General of Customs Strike Force has prevented illegal exports of unprocessed wood from accessing the Apapa ports by seizing four containers.
Team Leader and Coordinator of the Strike Force in the South West, Ahmadu Shuaibu disclosed to newsmen at a press briefing in Lagos that the seizures were made using a combination of intelligence and diligent enforcement.
The seized containers, according to him, were picked up while approaching the Lagos ports to be shipped out of the country in flagrant contravention of the extant export prohibition rules including the National Forestry Policy of July 2009
Shuaibu, a Deputy Comptroller of Customs explained that the value chain of processing the woods in Nigeria will be of economic and environmental advantages to the country
“Behind us are four containers loaded with wood. You will agree with me that the Federal Republic of Nigeria approved the National Forestry Policy in July 2009, prohibiting the export of wood and allied products.
“This is as a result of government in its wisdom may be largely due to environmental factors, as well as the social implication. We all know the effect of cutting trees on our environment. It leads to environmental degradation and desert encroachment.
“If not checked, we will wake up one day and realize that there is nowhere to hide. It is believed by the government that if one tree must be cut, two must be planted as a replacement. But it is not like that in this case, this is the indiscriminate falling of trees to foreign countries.
“Gentlemen of the press, let us spread this message that if those woods are properly harnessed in this country, it will give rise to the employment of teeming youths and the professionalization of artwork, and value will be added so that in essence, all these foreign furniture will be a thing of the past.
” As a country, we have the raw material resources and we have the expertise and capacity to turn this into a finished product; create jobs and employment for the youths. We must be on the same page to move this country forward.
“In other climes, prohibitions are strictly adhered to. The law is already there, why are we flouting it? At any level we are, we are the government. So we should help the government ensure that fiscal and agricultural policies that impact positively on the economy are strictly adhered to. We wish for smugglers to have a change of mind so that together we can build a very vibrant and strong economy” he said
Shuaibu while showing other seizures including rice and footwear added that the unit made a total of 86 seizures from January to June 2021 with a cumulative duty paid value of N1,649,460,846