Maritime Agencies
CARGO TRACKING NOTE: You Have Nothing To Fear, Shippers’ Council Assures MAN.
By Izuchukwu Ozoemena
The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has disclosed that the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has nothing to lose regarding the introduction of the International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN) as the platform will not become an additional fiscal burden on Nigerian shippers.
The Executive Secretary of the Nigeran Shippers’ Council, Hon Emmanuel Jime stated this in Lagos, Monday, during a breakfast meeting with executives of MAN at the Council’s headquarters in Apapa, Lagos.
Jime made it clear to MAN that the cost angle of the ICTN regime will not be borne by Nigerian shippers as things have been arranged in a way that it cannot do what he referred to as a dramatic damage to the economy. It will not negatively affect the cost of doing business since there will not be additional costs.
As critical stakeholders in the business value chain, he admitted, manufacturers have a right to seek clarifications and be properly informed on what is to be expected as far as the International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN) is concerned.
“The cost will be very minimal. Let’s keep in mind that this cost has always been a shipping charge. It isn’t something that is really new.”
“Nevertheless, we have to look at the real impact this will have on the Nigerian economy,” he assured.
Outlining the benefits acruable from the ICTN, Jime spoke specifically on crude oil theft and the implications on the nation’s economy. He was emphatic that tracking the movement of this cargo from source will ensure monitoring and assist Nigeria overcome the menace of crude oil theft which is having huge implications on the nation’s revenue.
He explained that among other benefits, the quantum of crude being stolen from Nigeria is enough to establish the kind of infrastructural development the nation deserves.
Besides, ICTN stands to address the problem of undervaluation of goods.
“These are some of the balancing factors that ICTN is going to bring. With these immense benefits that will come to the nation’s economy from ICTN, you will agree that there are more reasons to introduce ICTN than not to,” he observed.
The NSC boss requested MAN to collaborate in close partnership with his office to ensure that the reintroduction of the ICTN does not lead to an increase in the cost of doing business.
“Assist us,” he urged MAN.
Speaking earlier, former Vice President of MAN, Lagos Zone, Chief John Aluya, raised concerns that the introduction of the ICTN would lead to a new fiscal burden on Nigerian shippers as well as increasing the prices of imported goods.
Aluya, who is also a member of the NSC Governing Board, regretted that every regulatory regime in Nigerian ports has always translated to increased tax and avoidable costs for port stakeholders. Nigerian ports are already notorious in this aspect, he stated.
“Manufacturers’ ultimate aim is to make sure that Nigeria becomes the hub of the West-African region in production. But if our port costs keep rising, we will be driving away the land-locked countries from using our ports.”
“We don’t pay these additional costs directly. It is the final consumer that pays because it would reflect on the final prices of our products,” he told the NSC.
He prayed that being the ports economic regulator out to advance the economic interest of the nation, the NSC would be in a position to appreciate the fiscal implications of the ICTN especially from the point of view of the MAN.
Among others, the MAN’s delegation to the meeting included Mr Ambrose Oruche, the Director of Corporate Services.
By Izuchukwu Ozoemena
For the umpteenth time, the Ports Terminal Multi-services Limited (PTML) Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has made it clear that it remains a no-go area for unlawful trade under any guise.
As a Command, the PTML Customs has an unshaken commitment to implement the Revised Kyoto Convention, which is a World Customs Organisation (WCO) instrument for trade facilitation while using available manpower and technology to exercise the required control for import and export trade.
The Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Joe Anani stated this at the Command Headquarters in Apapa, Friday, while handing-over seized arms and ammunition to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW).
The seizures consist of five (5) pistols of different makes, one (1) Crossman pump master rifle, 132 Remington live cartridges, 51 9 mm Lugar live ammunition and four (4) 9mm magazines.
Others were forty (40) 9mm, NIM FC 30-30 blank and hollow ammunition and one hundred and eighteen (118) of 9mm empty shells.
”These arms and ammunition were uncovered in 25 different occasions by our officers during the examination of imported vehicles between 2022 to 2025.”
”These seizures are a fallout of the collective due diligence of the Command and other sister agencies in the port.”
The handing-over, he explained, follows the approval of the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR psc(+).
Present at the event was the South- West Coordinator, National Center for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) and his entourage. Others were the Management of Port and Terminal Multi-services Limited, sectional heads and heads of other sister agencies.
He explained that under the NCS Modernisation Project which was pioneered by the PTML Command, the Unified Customs Management System (UCMS), also known as B’Odogwu, has raised the bar for productivity.
”I am pleased to announce that this Command will receive scanners soon as part of the modernisation project and our capacity to detect concealments, like these arms and ammunition would be greatly enhanced.”
Appreciating the Command’s compliant stakeholders for their cooperation at all times, he described them as l part of the Command’s success story.
The CAC announced that two days to the end of January, 2026, the PTML Command collected a total revenue of ₦44,058,849,416.65. This figure surpasses N40,497,594,223.89 realized in January, 2025 by N3,561,255,192.76, marking an 8.8% increase in revenue.
On behalf of the CGC, Comptroller Joe Anani formally handed over the seizures to the National Center for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) for appropriate action.
Maritime Agencies
WAR AGAINST KILLER DRUGS: Apapa Customs, NDLEA Collaborate To Nab Huge Quantity of ‘Canadian Loud’.
By Izuchukwu Ozoemena
In her unwavering efforts to ensure that killer – drugs do not find entry into Nigeria, the Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has, in liaison with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), intercepted a 347.5 kilograms of ‘Canadian Loud’ concealed in an imported Toyota Sienna car. The highly – valued substance is a potent strain of cannabis, ordinarily known as marijuana.
As stated in a press release by CSC Isah Suleiman, the Apapa Customs Command Public Relations Officer, the contraband hidden in 13 bags within one of four vehicles contained in a single consignment was discovered following a painstaking weighing exercise. A breakdown shows ten bags at 25kg each, one at 29kg, and two at 34.5kg and 34kg respectively, totaling 347.5kg.
This interception marks the fourth major joint drug bust by the Nigeria Customs, Apapa Command and the NDLEA in less than two months.
In his remarks, the Apapa Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Emmanuel Oshoba re-enacted his warning to criminal elements and their networks to keep off the Command as the Command is always ahead of them to exploit whatever antics they deploy to undermine national security via the ports.
“Any attempt by criminal elements to traffic prohibited items through Apapa Port will be detected and thwarted. We remain vigilant and resolute in the discharge of our duty to protect our society and national security.”
He emphasized that under his watch, no cargo, whether import or export will pass through Apapa Port without thorough examination.
The operation also reflects the exemplary cooperation between Customs and NDLEA, championed by the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, PhD. Intelligence sharing and joint tactical efforts have consistently outmaneuvered smuggling networks in Nigeria’s maritime sector.
Oshoba credited this strengthened partnership for the success, noting that the upcoming deployment of a high-capacity drive-through scanner capable of processing 200 containers per hour will further revolutionize anti-smuggling operations.
Both agencies continue to operate under strict Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that foster zero tolerance, professionalism, and seamless cooperation. In line with established protocols, the seized cannabis has been formally handed over to the NDLEA for further investigation and prosecution of suspects linked to the consignment.
This latest success builds on the recognition accorded to Comptroller Oshoba and NDLEA Apapa Special Area Commander Mohammed Tukur, who were both awarded the WCO Certificate of Merit on January 26, 2026, in Abuja during the International Customs Day celebrations.
Oshoba further explained that the interception aligns with the 2026 ICD theme: “Customs Protecting Society Through Vigilance and Commitment.”
While Customs remains committed to facilitating legitimate trade, the CAC reaffirmed, it will intensify efforts to disrupt illicit activities and safeguard society.
Maritime Agencies
Seme Customs Raids Hideouts, Impounds 200 Bags of Smuggled Rice, Collects N2bn 3 Weeks into 2026.
By Izuchukwu Ozoemena
The Customs Area Controller (CAC), Seme Border Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, Comptroller Adewale Adenuga has vowed a continuous raid of the Badagry Roundabout and other notorious points where miscreants assemble and sell smuggled rice.
Just as the Command is taking the fight to smugglers in their routes inside the bush, he explained, it has equally sustained surveillance on other identified distribution points of the smuggled goods in market places.
Consequent upon this, Adenuga disclosed that the anti- smuggling officers of the command raided the selling point of smuggled rice at the Badagry market on January 21st, 2026 where they impounded over 200 bags of smuggled rice.
The CAC disclosed this at Seme Command, Wednesday, while exchanging views with the Tunde Ayodele-led Executive members of the Caretaker Committee of the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) who were on a courtesy visit.
” We have just raided the Badagry Roundabout where these smuggled rice are being assembled and sold.
” We had on several occasions warned them to desist from this act and leave the place.
”We have even asked the Oba of Badagry on my last visit to his palace before his death to appeal to these people to vacate the point of sale of the smuggled rice”
” They will smuggle the rice through the creeks and then will now come to that place and be selling.
”So if you go there now, you’ll see that it has been cleared” Comptroller Adenuga explained.
On revenue generation, he announced that few weeks into 2026, the Seme Command has maintained the high momentum of generation it had in 2025 as it has collected about 2 billion in the first three weeks of the new year. His men and officers, he maintained, are fired up to surpass the revenue figures recorded last year.
It is recalled that Seme Command recorded the sum of N15.6 billion in 2025 with N3.6billion of the total revenue collected in the month of December.
He maintained that with the continuous support of the Comptroller – General, Wale Adeniyi and his management team, Seme border will continue to sustain the momentum that propelled the officers into 2026.
While pledging to cooperate with MARAN on mutually -beneficial programmes Adenuga promised that Seme Command would maintain a steady course on revenue generation and will never ease the step on the anti- smuggling pedal in the new year.
Earlier in his address, MARAN Caretaker Committee Chairman, Mr Tunde Ayodele, congratulated the Controller on his assumption of duties as the head of Seme command, a feat he said was a testament to his rising profile as a committed customs officer and a reflection of the confidence of the management of the NCS in his managerial acumen to head the busiest border command of the Customs.
Ayodele assured Comptroller Adenuga of the support and collaboration of MARAN to ensure that he succeeds in his assignment.
The MARAN Caretaker Chairman noted that the association has noted with keen interest the vibrancy and transformation in the border operations at Seme which Comptroller Adenuga has brought within the short time he assumed duties.
”We are not surprised at the level of transformation and burst of activities you brought to Seme border operations, given your performance trajectory from your previous duty posts, especially at the Apapa Command where you were the unseen hands in the unprecedented revenue generation witnessed at the Customs’ flagship command when you were DC revenue” the MARAN chief recalled.
Meanwhile, the Comptroller- General of NCS, Adewale Adeniyi, has paid a condolence visit to the palace of Oba of Badagry through Comptroller Wale Adenuga.
According to Adenuga, he went to the palace of the late King on January 21st, 2026 on behalf of CGC Adeniyi to commiserate with the people and chiefs of Badagry Kingdom on the death of their first class monarch.
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Maritime Agencies5 days agoOGUN AREA 1 CUSTOMS: Suspected Armed Drug Traffickers Mount Barricades, Attack Officers. Two Personnel Critically Injured.
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Maritime Agencies3 days agoWAR AGAINST KILLER DRUGS: Apapa Customs, NDLEA Collaborate To Nab Huge Quantity of ‘Canadian Loud’.
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