Concerns emerged yesterday over the intentions of importers of a whooping 206,000 pieces of machetes in eight containers from Ghana into Nigeria through the Tin Can Island Port without an End Users Certificate from the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA).
The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) at the port said it confiscated the weapons in the interest of the safety of Nigerians following the heightened security situation in the country.
Tin Can Port Customs Area Command Controller, Comptroller, Adekunle Oloyede told journalists that his command also generated the sum of N135.443 billion between January and March 2022, that showed an improvement of N22.747 billion representing 20. 18 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2021 when they raked in N112.695 billion.
The export statistics showed that the tonnage of goods exported via the Tin-Can Island Port for the period under review from January to March 2022 is 71,014.4 Metric Tonnes with a total Free on Board (FOB) value of N56,205 billion.
Comptroller Adekunle Oloyede told journalists that the importation of the machetes and other intercepted products contravenes Sections 46, 47 and 161 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) Cap 45 LFN of 2004.