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.
