We have urgent cargo sent from Texas thru PSI shipping and courier that are now trapped in Nahco warehouse at MM International Airport , cant find anything online regarding progress if any pls need to know whats happening and when cargo clearing will resume.

Thanks all!

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Services (NCS), Dikko Inde Abdullahi, yesterday directed the closure of two cargo warehouses belonging to the Skyways Aviation Handling Company Limited ( SAHCOL) and the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO Aviance) Plc for what he described as the failure of the two companies to explain why goods were taken out of the warehouses without proper documentation.

Customs also said the two organisations had consistently failed to produce customs release documentation and evidence of payment of import duty and other statutory charges.

The closure according to the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Airport Command of the NCS, Mrs Thelma Williams, was a follow up to series of meetings between the Customs Area Comptroller, Mohammed Dahiru Umar, with all stakeholders, including cargo agents and freight forwarders association.

She said the airport command of customs acted on the approval of the comptroller general in line with the statutory powers conferred on the NCS as provided under sections 145(1) (b) and 5 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) CAP C45 LFN 2004, (as amended) and other extant regulations.

Williams cited other reasons for the closure of the warehouses to include non-compliance with customs procedure and the attendant loss of revenue accruable to the federal government of Nigeria as well as possible threat national security implications.

“The refusal of the companies to comply with the rules has created conducive working environment in these warehouses which militates against officers and men of the command discharging their statutory duties effectively.

She said the area command had no other option than to invoke the provisions of Sections 88,96, and 98 (4) (b) of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) CAP C45 LFN 2004 (as amended) and other extant regulations and seal up the warehouses to ensure and enforce compliance to these rules

Reacting to the closure, the Head of Corporate Communications of NAHCO Aviance, Adesanya Onayoade, confirmed the shutting down of the warehouses but said it was to “to enable a sanitisation exercise that will ultimately improve service delivery and block all revenue leakage.”

According to him, "The management of NAHCO is already in consultations to ensure among others that: Sterile areas in the warehouse are restricted to unauthorised people; that only licensed customs agents with access cards would be allowed in the warehouse; that all forms of touting are eliminated around the NAHCO cargo complex and that men of the customs would be given all support to ensure full compliance with cargo clearing process in the warehouse

“All accredited government agencies are given adequate support to ensure security and safety.

"We assure all stakeholders that by the time the warehouse is reopened, there will be seamless service delivery, adequate security and less crowd and full compliance with payment of duties by licensed customs agents.”

Also spokesman of SAHCOL, Basil Agboarumi, said: “There is no doubt that we are custodians of the warehouse, but no goods can move out of our warehouse without the approval of the customs. However, meetings and discussions are going on between the handling companies, custom licensed agents and the customs to find solution to this.”

Closed until further notice

thanks, but needed to know current situation,there seems to be no new info apart those early info you pasted above

mistakay: thanks, but needed to know current situation,there seems to be no new info apart those early info you pasted above

Still the same......shut down no current information

Nothing goes in or out till its all resolved

I think this should make the front-page. Am sure a lot of NLanders (myself included) have things at stake.
Unfortunately there's nothing about this in the newspapers (at least online) bar the initial reports of the closure by Customs.
Most freight forwarders themselves are not even helping matters-they either don't pick your calls or simply switch off entirely.

@naijacutee
I agree with you.
Living in Nigeria can be very very trying at times.
But can we move this to the front page.
Maybe someone out there has some info.
Thanks

A friend of mein was complaing to me this morning that the camcorder he sent to Nigeria almost 2 weeks ago is Yet to arrive, now i can understand what went wrong.

Mods o...
Please lets have this in a place where people can contribute. With the rate at which threads are being updated in the business section, this thread will be relegated to the back pages in a few hours.
I believe some other NLanders might have some more info... only if they could see this
Front page Please nah...

naijacutee: I've submitted it for Front page approval, as I know many people are affected and want to know what's going on. Patience.

Sorry... My Bad...
Was unaware of the processes involved to make front page.

The continued closure of of both NACHO and SACHOL warehouses at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos may hamper flight of cargo planes into the country.

The two warehouses, which is the two major holding points for cargo that come into the country through the Murtalar Mohammed International Airport, were shut down by the Nigeria Customs Service over what the service described as ”unexplained exit of goods without proper documentation, unexplained Customs release and evidence of payment of import duty and other statutory charges”.

The closure of these cargo holding bay may result to non availability of space for any cargo to be offloaded and kept pending their claerance.

The immediate past chairman of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport chapter of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA); Mr Dada Livinus Agabuzo therefore warned that long closure of the warehouses will affect cargo flight into Nigeria.

“If it goes on for more than one week, we will have to advise the airlines to stop bringing cargoes to Lagos”, he warned.

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service , Alhaji Dikko Abdulahi, has approved the closure.

The action is in exercise of the statutory powers of the Service as provided under section 145(1b) of the Customs and Excise Management Act, (CEMA).

Customs Area Controller (CAC) of the Command, Comptroller Mohammed Umar, in a statement signed by the Customs Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Assistant Superintendent Thelma Williams, said that the action became necessary after several meetings and consultations held with stakeholders ended with no positive resolution.

The consultations, according to the CAC, failed to resolve the massive evasion of duties which the customs said has resulted to collosal loss of revenue to the Federal government.Umar added that agents’ non-compliance with Customs procedures and the attendant loss of revenue accruable to the Federal Government, national security implications, as well as what he described as un-conducive working environment in the warehouses militating against the effective discharge of duties of officers at the Command, necessitated the closure of the warehouses.

He said that the Command had no option than to invoke the provisions of sections 88, 96 and 98 (b) of CEMA and seal up the warehouses in order to ensure and enforce compliance.

Mr Agabuzo, the ANLCA cheiftain, revealed that the bone of contention is the missing unutilized airway bills that the duo of NAHCO and SAHCOL have not been able to account for. According to him, the two cargo handlers are expected to account for the missing airway bills, adding that this is what the Customs is investigating and that this is why the two warehouses were shut.
Head, Corporate Communications, SAHCOL, also Mr Basil Agboarumi, confirmed the closure.

“No doubt that we are custodians of the warehouse, no goods can move out of our warehouse without the approval of the Customs”.
”Discussions are going on between the handling companies, custom licensed agents and the Customs,” he said.
Similarly, the head, Corporate Communications of NAHCO, Mr Adesanya Onayoade, confirmed that the Customs has temporarily closed the customs bonded warehouse.

Onayoade said that the closure was to enable a sanitisation exercise that would ultimately improve service delivery and block all revenue leakages.

Source: http://www.hallmarknews.com/customs-shut-cargo-warehouses-at-murtala-muhammed-airport/

r231: The continued closure of of both NACHO and SACHOL warehouses at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos may hamper flight of cargo planes into the country.

The two warehouses, which is the two major holding points for cargo that come into the country through the Murtalar Mohammed International Airport, were shut down by the Nigeria Customs Service over what the service described as ”unexplained exit of goods without proper documentation, unexplained Customs release and evidence of payment of import duty and other statutory charges”.

The closure of these cargo holding bay may result to non availability of space for any cargo to be offloaded and kept pending their claerance.

The immediate past chairman of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport chapter of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA); Mr Dada Livinus Agabuzo therefore warned that long closure of the warehouses will affect cargo flight into Nigeria.

“If it goes on for more than one week, we will have to advise the airlines to stop bringing cargoes to Lagos”, he warned.

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service , Alhaji Dikko Abdulahi, has approved the closure.

The action is in exercise of the statutory powers of the Service as provided under section 145(1b) of the Customs and Excise Management Act, (CEMA).

Customs Area Controller (CAC) of the Command, Comptroller Mohammed Umar, in a statement signed by the Customs Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Assistant Superintendent Thelma Williams, said that the action became necessary after several meetings and consultations held with stakeholders ended with no positive resolution.

The consultations, according to the CAC, failed to resolve the massive evasion of duties which the customs said has resulted to collosal loss of revenue to the Federal government.Umar added that agents’ non-compliance with Customs procedures and the attendant loss of revenue accruable to the Federal Government, national security implications, as well as what he described as un-conducive working environment in the warehouses militating against the effective discharge of duties of officers at the Command, necessitated the closure of the warehouses.

He said that the Command had no option than to invoke the provisions of sections 88, 96 and 98 (b) of CEMA and seal up the warehouses in order to ensure and enforce compliance.

Mr Agabuzo, the ANLCA cheiftain, revealed that the bone of contention is the missing unutilized airway bills that the duo of NAHCO and SAHCOL have not been able to account for. According to him, the two cargo handlers are expected to account for the missing airway bills, adding that this is what the Customs is investigating and that this is why the two warehouses were shut.
Head, Corporate Communications, SAHCOL, also Mr Basil Agboarumi, confirmed the closure.

“No doubt that we are custodians of the warehouse, no goods can move out of our warehouse without the approval of the Customs”.
”Discussions are going on between the handling companies, custom licensed agents and the Customs,” he said.
Similarly, the head, Corporate Communications of NAHCO, Mr Adesanya Onayoade, confirmed that the Customs has temporarily closed the customs bonded warehouse.

Onayoade said that the closure was to enable a sanitisation exercise that would ultimately improve service delivery and block all revenue leakages.

Breaking news: Jonathan sacks 9 ministers including Minister of education! Dancing Alingo ooooh ooooh ooooohh......

this impasse should be resolved as soon as possible. My items have been delayed for almost 2wks...

ETT

Nigeria is backward,i have my nephew and niece school stuffs in the cargo,they are resuming on the 16th and no hope of getting the goods,mine is better I know of someone that has bill of lading in his cargo,the car is at the port and demurrage has started counting and the worse part of it is that the figth has nothing to do with how to move nacho and Nigerian customs forward,its simply because they want more bribe.

The impasse is over. Operations have commenced today at the various cargo sheds.

SeunAero: The impasse is over. Operations have commenced today at the various cargo sheds.

Any source? Or do you work in the sector?

In other news ASUU strike continues.. All these in only one country.



Nija is trully blessed with...

Only in Nigeria... *smh*

- Aviation Handling coy mismanages airway bills.
- Customs blames Handling coy even though they (i.e. Customs) ought to be signatories before the said bills can even be used.

- Heads of both Handling coy and Customs meet to resolve the issue (READ: meet to discuss why Handling coy chop d money alone).

- They can't reconcile said issues (READ: Handling coy no gree share the money cos they've chopped disgested it already).

- Customs quote constitution (or some similar bull$h!t) and shuts down the WHOLE country's cargo-receiving bay.

- Ordinary nigerians suffer...along with some non-nigerians dense enough to really on our systems.

Madness everywhere. This is what u get when drafts are in position of authority.

Yet they say no job, can't the custom put their staff at each of this terminals? Or they have staffs there but want to show the public how inept they could be?

As an insider, i can tell you that the problem is simply greed and humongous corruption. There was a change of guard at the customs Airport command. The new boss is demanding an absurd amount of money from the customs agents. He wants a very huge bribe to allow for passage of all manner of goods.

Negotiations are going on to arrive at an acceptable " Bribe" money to all. Greed and corruption are the biggest problem in this country. I will leave it at this.

It's a funny scenario..And for the first time am happy something like this has found it's way to the front-page of Nairaland.Have being shippping through a private courier in Lagos for about 3years or more now,And i must let you know something like this happens every now and then.At least once or twice a year at NACHO.If it's not customs asking for more money from the clearing agents,it would be goods impounded for just no reason.Have had my package and that of others held down at NACHO for almost a month,just because of Custom's wahala..At times i weep silently when things like this happen to we Nigerians..It shows how we have missed it in this Country..I have a flight coming into NACHO today,Hope my courier company gets it cleared as soon as possible as am already damm broke..Na so i dey watch Obama's live address to America yesternight,na so NEPA come take light...Niaja i hail ohhh

Last time i checked Inde Dikko was on his way out.
The guy needs to go for Customs to return to normalcy.

Chinom: As an insider, i can tell you that the problem is simply greed and humongous corruption. There was a change of guard at the customs Airport command. The new boss is demanding an absurd amount of money from the customs agents. He wants a very huge bribe to allow for passage of all manner of goods.

Negotiations are going on to arrive at an acceptable " Bribe" money to all. Greed and corruption are the biggest problem in this country. I will leave it at this.

Yes there was a change at customs airport command but that is totally unrelated. it was found out that 15 containers disappeared without a trace of any sign of duty payments, etc and that is what caused the shutdown. it has nothing to do with what you said.

Bludeville:
Yes there was a change at customs airport command but that is totally unrelated. it was found out that 15 containers disappeared without a trace of any sign of duty payments, etc and that is what caused the shutdown. it has nothing to do with what you said.

Payments were made alright for those containers, but ' de money no reach oga hand' . Hence he shut the whole system down.

mistakay: thanks, but needed to know current situation,there seems to be no new info apart those early info you pasted above

Really interested in that.

i am intersted too ooo.. i have to refund some of my customer due to excessive delay... i don abusive cvm tire

Chinom:


Payments were made alright for those containers, but ' de money no reach oga hand' . Hence he shut the whole system down.

Chief,payments are made direct to the bank and not cash deals...get your facts right.If payments were made,there would be evidence.