On Wednesday, November 15, the Murtala Muhammed Airport Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said that it generated N74.28 billion as revenue from imports between January to October 2023.

The command also intercepted Tramadol worth N3.55 billion imported into Nigeria from Pakistan and India.

Disclosing this at briefing, Customs Area Comptroller, Muhammed Yusuf said the command has recorded strides in the last ten months as a trade facilitation agency at one of the country’s air borders.

According to Yusuf, what was collected in 2023 was higher than the 2022 collection by 23 percent.

He said: “During the period under review January — October 2023, the Command collected revenue to the tune of N74.28 billion from Customs duty and other charges. In comparison to the revenue collected same period in 2022 which stood at N60.05 billion.

“This clearly shows a progressive difference of N14.23billion depicting a 23 percent increase in collection. The Command so far has met 76.34 percent of its annual target. This was made possible as a result of the resilience of officers in ensuring that agents were made to do proper declarations and to adhere strictly to import/export guidelines in tandem with extant laws.”

The Customs boss, however, disclosed that in anti-smuggling, the Command Intercepted unregistered pharmaceutical products suspected to be tramadol tablets worth N3.55 billion imported into the country.

Yusuf stated further that the shipment was intercepted on suspicion of exceeding the approved threshold by the federal government.

He added: “In the area of anti-smuggling activities. The Command has intercepted unregistered pharmaceutical products suspected to be Tramadol tablets. The shipment was intercepted on the suspicion of exceeding the approved threshold by the Federal Government. The cumulative Duty Paid Value (DPV) of the aforementioned items stood at N3.55billion.”

He, however, urged officers of the Command to remain steadfast and focused in the discharge of their duties.

“I want to use this medium to profoundly thank the Controller General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, for providing an enabling environment as regards the renovation in the Command. Let me extend the same gratitude to the Officers and Men of Murtala Muhammed Airport Command. I also want to urge Officers and men of the Command to remain focused and steadfast in discharging their assigned responsibilities.”