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MACI calls on IGP Egbetokun to rein in maritime police over indiscriminate interception of exited cargo from ports 

AIG Susan Akem-Horsfall, Maritime Police
The Eyewitness Reporter
The Media Anti-Corruption Initiative (MACI) has expressed worry over the overbearing attitude of maritime police in cargo clearing procedures at the ports.
The group noted with concern that this attitude of the police in indiscriminately intercepting cargo exited by the Customs at the ports has caused unnecessary bad blood between the Maritime Police and other government agencies whom the police have accused of compromising the cargo clearing process at the ports.
In a statement issued and signed by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees( BOT) of the group, Captain Adamu Mshelia and the Secretary, Mr. Funso Olojo, MACI believes that the attitude of the police was predicated on misunderstanding of the role of the maritime police by its top officials.
“All the agencies operating in the ports, including the police,  are backed by law with specific functions, though there are some cases of overlapping functions.
“The police is to maintain law and order, make arrests where necessary and prosecute offenders.
“It’s the statutory duty of Customs to release cargo after satisfactory inspection of documents by its officers and where necessary, physical examination with other agencies.
“We know that four units of police namely K9, Bomb Squad, Intelligence Unit and normal police do participate in cargo examination.
“We then wonder what Maritime police will be looking for after four of its units have participated in the examination of cargo.
“For checks and balances, Customs management created other units like enforcement, CIU, Taskforce, Strike Force, etc.
“These are units trained and well versed in the interpretation of codes, value determination, classification, concealment, wrong declaration and what have you.
“Even the Customs management has come to the realization that some of these units are only mere duplication of duties, hindering trade facilitation, hence the recent scrapping of Strike Force and reduction of checkpoints.
“The maritime police has its duty and we believe that no agency is stopping it from carrying it out. The only argument is the modality for doing their job.
“We know that police have the right to enter anywhere and if it has information about a container, it can trace it to the owner’s warehouse.
“This is the acceptable way of working in saner climes and this is what other agencies are telling maritime police to do.
“MACI feels embarrassed by the jejune and puerile allegations from the AIG Maritime Police, Susan Akem-Horsfall that the agencies are conniving with shippers and their clearing agents to shortchange government.
“This is clearly an allegation meant to justify the unjustifiable.
“We are miffed by AIG’s defence of the indefensible that nobody can stop police from stopping containers on the road.
“Maritime police is not being stopped from doing its legitimate work but what everyone is saying is that police should not cause another congestion and interfere unnecessarily with international trade with the indiscriminate and unwarranted interception of exited cargo on the road when the police can trail such suspected consignment to the warehouse of its owners” the group which is the media coalition against corruption, declared.
The group therefore  called on the Inspector general of police,  Kayode Egbetokun,  to call the AIG, Maritime Police, Susan Akem-Horsfall, to order and ask her  to tell her officers to  strictly face police duty as only Customs officers are trained on classification, interpretation of codes, value determination, concealment, etc
MACI also believes that the timely intervention of the IGP will stave off the brewing crisis and allow the contending issue be resolved amicably in order to have concerted efforts towards proper management of the emerging blue economy.
“We believe that government has committed so much resources to decongesting the ports and facilitating trade and therefore unnecessary man-made encumbrances should not be encouraged.” the group concluded.
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Headlines

Customs Steps Up Nationwide Green Tax Awareness Ahead of July 1 Rollout

Funso OLOJO, Editor

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intensified its nationwide sensitisation campaign ahead of the July 1, 2026 implementation of the Green Tax Surcharge and related fiscal adjustments, aimed at promoting environmental sustainability and encouraging the importation of cleaner vehicles.

The awareness campaign, held on Friday July 26th, 2026 at the Apapa Area Command, brought together Customs officers, licensed customs agents, freight forwarders, importers and other key stakeholders under the theme: “Implementation of the Green Tax Surcharge and Related Fiscal Adjustments.”

Representing the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, the Zonal Coordinator, Zone A, Mohammed Babadende, said the exercise was designed to ensure stakeholders fully understand the policy before its implementation.

“This sensitisation is designed to ensure that every stakeholder clearly understands the policy before implementation. Our objective is to eliminate uncertainty, promote voluntary compliance and guarantee uniform application of the Green Tax Surcharge across all commands,” Babadende stated.

Delivering a technical presentation, the Comptroller in charge of Tariff, System Audit and Coordination, Murtala Muazu, explained that the Green Tax Surcharge is different from conventional fiscal measures and would therefore require a separate assessment process.

He disclosed that the Service has simplified implementation through the HS Code declaration platform to facilitate seamless compliance by importers and clearing agents.

Muazu also revealed that the Federal Government has reduced import levies on vehicles from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, while import duty on used vehicles has been slashed from 15 per cent to five per cent to cushion the impact of the new environmental surcharge.

Area Controllers who participated in the sensitisation urged importers, licensed customs agents and the trading public to embrace the initiative, stressing that the reduction in import levies would lower the cost of doing business, promote legitimate trade and ultimately reduce transportation costs.

Stakeholders welcomed the policy but called for sustained public enlightenment to deepen understanding and ensure seamless compliance ahead of the July 1 commencement date.

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Headlines

Beyond Lagos: The untold realities of Nigeria’s Eastern corridor seaports

Monday Discourse with  Ibrahim Nasiru
When the World Bank and S&P Global recently released the 2025 Container Port Performance Index (CPPI), the headlines understandably erupted in celebration.
For Tin Can Island and Apapa to land in the global Top 20 for performance gains is undoubtedly a historic milestone.
Yet, for seasoned maritime analysts and industry stakeholders, a glaring question remains: what about the rest of Nigeria’s coastlines?
While the satellite data accurately captures a localized turnaround in the Lagos pilotage districts, it simultaneously masks a stark regional imbalance.
The narrative of Nigerian maritime modernization cannot begin and end in Lagos.
 To truly turn the tide, the conversation must expand to the Eastern Corridor encompassing Onne Port, Port Harcourt Port, Calabar Port, and Warri Port.
The fundamental issue is that the World Bank’s CPPI relies strictly on automated vessel AIS data tracking.
It registers a win when ship turnaround times shrink at a berth, but it completely shuts out the structural and geographical deficiencies that prevent large vessels from even sailing into Eastern waters in the first place.
Modern deep sea shipping lines require drafts starting at 15 meters.
While multi-billion naira investments and natural depths allow Lagos and the expanding Lekki Deep Sea Port to receive mega-vessels, Calabar Port remains severely hindered by an un-dredged channel hovering around a shallow 6 to 7 meters.
Port Harcourt suffers from similar shallow constraints. Without aggressive, patriotic capital dredging projects, the devils in the details ensure that these regional Ports remain underutilized, regardless of how much digitization is deployed on paper.
It is easy for policymakers to announce massive financial interventions.
Critics are entirely right to point out that the Federal Government’s massive Port modernization plans must yield measurable metrics on the ground, not just political headlines.
However, recent data shows that commercial viability is waiting to be unlocked.
In overall cargo throughput metrics, Onne Port has consistently proven that the Eastern flank possesses massive economic power when given the operational room to breathe.
The roadmap for greenfield developments like the Ibom deep seaport and others exists, but real execution under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework will be the ultimate judge of these investments.
The current operational reality forces an unnatural economic bottleneck.
 Importers in the South-East and South-South regions frequently clear their goods in Lagos, only to transport them across hundreds of kilometers of volatile highways back to Eastern markets.
This layout drives up logistics expenses, completely wiping out the macro efficiencies celebrated in recent National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) trade surplus figures.
The next institutional hurdle for the Managing Director of the NPA, Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, and the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, is the implementation of a unified, cooperative Port development strategy.
This requires more than just launching an electronic call-up system; it demands a deliberate re-alignment of tariff structures that actively incentivizes shipping consortia to divert traffic to regional hubs.
Ultimately, a Port system is only as strong as its weakest link. Celebrating the World Bank validation of Apapa and Tin Can is fair, but treating it as a nationwide victory is premature.
Until the institutional bottlenecks, channel depths, and security challenges of the Eastern Corridor seaports are solved with the same urgency applied to Lagos, Nigeria’s maritime sector will continue running on half its cylinders.
True maritime competitiveness is not won by building an elite logistics island in one state, but by unlocking the full economic potentials of the nation’s entire coastline.
Chief Ibrahim Nasiru, a public affairs Analyst, writes from Abuja
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Features

Beyond Lagos ports: Why NPA should position Eastern ports for global recognition

Chief Nasiru Ibrahim

Monday Discourse with Ibrahim Nasiru focuses on why government should look beyond Lagos ports and position Eastern ports for global recognition.

Our feature last week on the World Bank Top 20 ranking for Tin Can and Apapa Ports sparked an intense industry debate.

The biggest question raised: What about the rest of Nigeria’s coastlines?

Dropping tomorrow morning, June 29th, 2026,we go beyond the Lagos headlines to break down the hidden operational realities of Nigeria’s Eastern Ports.

Don’t miss “Beyond Lagos: The Untold Realities of Nigeria’s Eastern Corridor Seaports”

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