Category: Maritime

Barely 25 hours after an explosion rocked an illegal oil dumpsite in Rumuokoro axis of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivets State, a massive fire had erupted at the Nembe/Bonny/Bille jetty in Port Harcourt.

The fire which is still raging had consumed over six market boats with passengers trapped in it.

Eyewitnesses said the boats were lading and offloading at the jetty when the fire suddenly erupted, as it was believed to be carrying some illegally refined petroleum products.

Greatness is a property for which no man can receive credit too soon; it must be possessed long before it is acknowledged. When one of the world’s greatest thinkers, Ralph Waldo Emerson handed down the above words of wisdom, those he had in mind were certainly the likes of DC.Gaya Y.M, the Area Project Manager (APM) Apapa Customs Command, Lagos. For the trail-blazing Customs officer par excellence from Dundun in Kano state, it is certainly impossible to gloss over his attributes for greatness.

Very few people appreciate their purpose in life and still understand the components of that purpose. Deputy Comptroller Gaya Y.M, Area Project Manager, Apapa Customs Command, Lagos will stand out among the few who had more than a fleeting nation of their sojourn on earth.

He is a rare breed who viewed life solely from the perspective of his God and knew that life’s purpose can only be fulfilled when self-will is surrounded to Almighty. DC. Gaya is a very supportive, encouraging and inspiring fellow; whatever he sets his mind on, he does passionately and quietly.

He is a loving, kind-hearted man and this shows in his dealing with all that come across him, including his fellow officers to be rated as one of the best customs officers in the country can never be a mean achievement. One peculiarity of Gaya Mohammed is that he operates with synergy in his relationship with not only customs officers but also officers of other sister agencies in commands he has served.

This amiable fellow is a man who has been identified as being effective and efficient in carrying out his official duties. He a crusader of integrity who believes in efficiency and improved revenue generation as well as zero tolerance for corruption.

A graduate of the University of Sokoto with BSc. degree in Economics and a Masters Degree in Business Administration. A native of Dundun in Kano state.Professionally, DC. Gaya who is vast in customs operations has attended several courses both locally and internationally like the Crown Agents, Accra, Ghana in 2010.

Since he joined the Nigeria Customs Service in 1990, he has moved through ranks in several commands where he served in various capacities and has made very remarkable achievements like Borno state, Murtala Mohammed International Airport customs command, Lagos, Port-Harcourt, Rivers state as Area Project Manager, Abakiliki out-station as Patrol Team Leader and Apapa command, Lagos where he is currently operating as Area Project Manager . He has always exhibited resilience in any command he serves by ensuring improved compliance level through system monitoring and increased revenue generation.

If competence as an Area Project Manager (APM) is anything to go by, Deputy Comptroller Gaya Y.M. can be described as an epitome of technical knowledge within the Nigeria Customs Service based on his professional experience which has manifested itself when he realized N1.2B from a reputable Telecommunication company into the Federal Government coffers as officer in charge of Query & Amendment.DC. Gaya and his group have also recovered N5.5B in a single transaction by an Offshore Oil company through excise control and development and that has been commendable as it is a very remarkable achievement in the history of Nigeria Customs Service.

In his exploits as the Area Project Manager (APM) in Onne Customs Command of the service where he was privileged to serve under several Area Controllers such as Comptrollers Richard Oteri, Mohammed Mogaji, Gummi Hamzat,Babani A.T several monumental achievements of the command could be traced to the unseen hands of the amiable Deputy Comptroller, Gaya Y.M., an erudite and articulate customs officer who is thoroughly diligent when carrying out his duties.

Based on the report made available to Grassroots Publishers, Gaya’s deployment to head the CPC/ASSYCUDA Unit of the command where he served for about 5 years,the revenue profile of the command which before then stood between N4 billion to N5 billion and in some rare cases N7 billion per month was seen to have over the time shoot up incrementally to about N8 billion, N9 billion, N10 billion per month.

This feat was attributed to his resolve to have prudently plugged several loopholes, which eventually led to increase in compliance level of trade. Several loopholes that were capitalized on by economic saboteurs were said to be detected by his led team and consequently plugged, and this, in the long run, had improved the revenue performance of the command.

His transfer to Apapa command of the service widely acclaimed to be the highest revenue earning command as APM in the last general redeployment of Deputy Comptrollers of Customs cadre once again is an attestation of professional competence garnered over the years which has endeared him to the highly elevated technical position.

The PTML Command of Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has generated over N98.9billion into the coffers of the Federal Government in 2018 fiscal year. The Public Relations Officer, PRO of the Command, Mr. Yakubu M. A. made this known, in a document signed and made available to Grassroots Publishers in Lagos.

According to him, the Command collected the huge sum of N98.9billion from the period covering January to October this year.

Yakubu further explained that N78.2billion revenue was generated by the same Command from January to October 2017 economic year.

He said, “N78.2billion revenue was realized in the same period under review in 2017, while N98.9billion has been generated in 2018. Comparatively, this shows the revenue surplus of N20.6billion, which also shows a percentage increase of about 29.3”

Yakubu also said that the current Customs Area Controller, CAC, of the Command, Comptroller Florence Dixon, is working tirelessly to increase revenue collection for the government while ensuring trade facilitation for greater economic growth.

The Deputy Superintendent of Customs, Nwaiwu Chibuzor Ginikanwa, today, told Justice  Saliu Saidu of the Federal High Court, Lagos, how the Nigerian  Customs Service(NCS) discovered the 1570 pump action rifles illegally imported into the country by some businessmen through the Tincan Island Port, Lagos.

Ginikanwu, a Deputy Superintendent of Customs with the Intelligence unit, Tincan Island Command, Lagos appeared as a prosecution witness in the trial of Ayogu Great James, Ifeuwa Moses Christ and a company, Great James Oil and Gas Limited, facing trial for alleged importation of 1570 pump action rifles into the country.

While being led in evidence by the Prosecutor, Mr. Julius Ajakaiye, a Deputy Director with the Federal Ministry of Justice, Ginikanwa said she was on normal routine surveillance on September 6, 2017 at the Tincan Island Container Port, Lagos with  the list of containers to be positioned for examination on that day in which a 1by 20 feet container was also among.

The witness added that on her way to inspect some containers, an agent by name, Ndubuisi approached her and gave her a photocopy of a Bill of Laden.

The Customs officer said that after inspecting the first container belonging to another person, she proceeded to carry out an inspection on the container which Ndubuisi has given her the Bill of Laden.

Ginikanwa said on approaching the container, she saw two agents standing by the container with the container already opened. “I noticed some cartons wrapped in sacks with one of the cartons turned open.”

The witness said on a closer look, she saw guns and that immediately the two agents, Ikechukwu Okafor, and Ndubuisi realized that she has seen the guns in the sacks, they quickly locked the container and ran away.

Ginikanwa said she quickly alerted her boss, Deputy Comptroller of Customs, Bomoi Sulaimon, who in turn, quickly drafted other operatives to join her at the terminal to secure the container while her boss also contacted Deputy Comptroller Enforcement, Nnandi Vera.

The witness said she and the reinforcement from her unit were at the terminal until the arrival of the Enforcement Unit who took the container away for 100 percent physical examination.

“When I get back to the office on that day, I received a call from a telephone number 08026797600 and the person who called was begging me in Ibo language to help secure the release of the container.”

The witness added that further investigation of the call line revealed the caller to be one Emeka Festus

During today’s trial, the prosecutor, Ajakaiye tendered the certified true copy of the Bill of Laden given to Ginikanwa by Ndubuisi and it was admitted in evidence as the defendant’s lawyers did not oppose to its admissibility.

Meanwhile, Justice Saidu has adjourned the further hearing in the matter till January, 16th and 24th of next year.

Recalled that the court yesterday (Wednesday), refused the bail applications filed by the alleged gun runners, Ayogu Great James and one Ifeuwa Moses Christ.

The duo alongside a company, Great James Oil and Gas Limited, located at Number 1, Warehouse Road, Apapa, Lagos   were first arraigned before Justice Saliu Saidu on October 11 this year by the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).

The defendants were arrested by men of Nigeria Customs Services (NCS) with the said pump action rifles concealed in two 1×20 feet containers, under the pretense of bringing in wash hand basins and Water Closets (WC) from China.

In a charge marked FHC/L/339c/18, the defendants were alleged to have uttered forged  Bill of Laden and Customs Form M, which they used in smuggling the pump action rifles into the country.

During their arraignment, they were slammed with the eight counts charge bordering on conspiracy, illegal importation of firearms and forgery and uttering of Customs’ import documents

The offenses according to the prosecutor, Mr. Julius Ajakaiye are contrary to and punishable under Section 3(6), 1(14)(a), 1(14)(a)(i), 1(2)(c) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act Cap. M17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

They all pleaded not guilty to the charge, following which their lawyers who include: Mahmud Mogaji and Wale Adesokan, both Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), filed their bail applications and urged the court to grant same.

However, the Prosecutor, Mr. Ajakaiye, in his preliminary objection and counter-affidavits to the applications, opposed the defendants’ bail applications on the ground that the charges against them bothered on national security.

Ruling on the bail applications of the defendants yesterday, (Wednesday), Justice Saidu said, “individual liberty cannot be placed above national security.

“The charges against the defendants is considered as a serious charge with the level of insecurity in the country such as armed robbery, kidnapping, terrorism and the rest.

“Considering the nature of the charge, I can’t exercise my discretion in favour of the defendants. I hereby refused the bail applications”.

After refusing the defendants’ bail applications, the prosecutor, Mr. Ajakaiye, informed the court of an amended charge against the defendants.

He also told the court that amendment was sequel to the inclusion of one Emeka Umeh Festus, also known as Amankwa, who is said to be at large when others were arraigned before the court on October 11.

Upon taken the not guilty plea of all defendants on the amended charge, the matter was adjourned till today for commencement of trial of all the defendants.

Ayogu, a resident of Plot 291, Dawaki extention, opposite Gwarinpa Estate, Abuja, was arraigned alongside his company, Great James Oil and Gas Limited, locates at 1, Warehouse Road, Apapa, Lagos and one Emeka Umeh Festus, also known as Amankwa, who is said to be at large.

The prosecutor that  in a bid to illegally and  unlawfully bring in the weapons, the defendants ulterred and forged Bill of lading, issued in July 28, 2017, to read Guandong, China, instead of Istanbul, Turkey, which was written on the conveying container.

They were also alleged to have uttered Form M (application for Import) and Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), issued in August 28, 2017, with number MF 20170080364 and CN 20170768490/001, respectively, to read Guandong, China instead of Istanbul, Turkey, as country of origin.

The defendants were also alleged to have altered a forged bill of lading numbered ISB0281398, issued in July 28, 2017, to read 230 packages of wash hand basin and W/C, as the content in the container used in shipping in the illegal firearms.