ABUJA: The smuggling of goods through the Cotonu border may soon become a thing of the past following strategic collaboration and agreements reached between the Nigeria and Republic of Benin customs after two days of bilateral talks in Abuja.
Both customs administrations came together to find an effective way to curb illegal movement of goods through that axis as part of efforts to plug all revenue leakages and to ensure that revenue due to both governments are collected in the interest of their respective economies.
In the agreement signed by both customs heads, the countries agreed, amongst others, to pursue vigorously the escort and handing over of goods in transit from customs to customs, submit manifest for goods in transit between both countries and pursue uniform enforcement of the import prohibition laws along the Nigerian borders.
They also agreed to consider the establishment of a joint technical team to study the possibility of interconnectivity between both administrations and to forward Nigeria’s import prohibition list to Benin whenever there’s an amendment. The comptroller-general of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Abdullahi Dikko, and the director-general of the Republic of Benin Customs, Charles Sezan, signed the agreements last week with a view to bringing an end to the smuggling of Nigerian bound cargoes through the port in Cotonu, Benin Republic.
Investigations have revealed over the years that most Nigerian bound cargoes are often diverted by importers to the port in Cotonu from where they are smuggled into Nigeria. This is usually done with a view to evade duty payments, a development which results to huge revenue loss. Efforts by the NCS to check the menace through the simplification of the entire import and export process with the ongoing modernisation of the service has not fully yielded the desired results as some unscrupulous traders have refused to embrace the change, preferring to continue to illegally bring goods into the country.
Speaking during the signing of the agreement at the customs headquarters in Abuja, Dikko maintained that at a time when much is expected from the service all efforts must be geared towards improving revenue collection and blocking all loopholes and leakages.
He said, “The issue before now is about how to curb smuggling through the Benin border because it has a port which is very busy and most of the cargoes that come into it are Nigeria’s. Sezan’s coming has proved to us that he is brotherly, more focused and sincere to solve the problems of our countries. The customs is one family, we work together all over the world as one family.
“We have a consensus that we are going to work together to make sure that all money due to the federal government of each country is being taken care of, and with that the governments will have more confidence in us. We have resolved our settle our challenges amicably and to make sure that we have a common understanding of how to move cargoes and facilitate trade within our borders. These are bold and welcome initiatives,” Dikko stated.
He added further that with the signing of the agreement, he will direct his comptrollers at the borders to strictly adhere to the communique and work harmoniously with the Benin Customs. He also announced the donation of five pickup vans to the Benin Customs to assist in cargo escort.
Sezan for his part pledged the readiness of his country to comply with Nigeria’s import prohibition list, saying, “We will do our best to seal up all loopholes for income loss.”
The Benin Customs boss who spoke through an interpreter stressed the need to improve relations between both countries while noting that security issues are creating a challenge which must be dealt with through collaborative efforts. He informed that he came with his team to Nigeria with confidence to discuss matters of common interest to both countries as well as issues affecting the sub-region. Sezan also emphasised the need to set up a permanent committee in order to have a standing framework for exchange of views and capacity building.
