90% OF VEHICLES IN NIGERIA ARE SMUGGLED – CUSTOM BOSS, HAMEED ALI

October 4, 2019

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Demilade Tiwo

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali , has said 90 percent of cars in the country were smuggled into the country by illegitimate means.

Ali, while speaking during a press conference in Abuja, alleged that many vehicles on display for sale in auto shops across the country were also smuggled, stating that the recent raid of car dealers’ spots in some parts of the country were to ascertain whether the vehicles were brought in genuinely or not.

According to him, Nigeria needs revenue for development, hence, it is necessary to collect duties on those smuggled vehicles.

“We want to use this opportunity to ensure that cars within our borders are fully customized, which means duties are paid on them. ”We are looking for revenue from everywhere and we have these people who brought in vehicles and failed to pay duties. “What we are doing now, we are just enforcing the law, which allows us to collect revenue on behalf of Nigeria and also ensure those vehicles you and I will go and buy have genuine papers” he said.

However he mentioned that the custom officials will seize any vehicle found not dully registered, he also explained that the force is carrying out this operation to save car buyers from running into trouble.