Nigeria Customs to deploy drones in Seme border – Newstrends
Connect with us

Business

Nigeria Customs to deploy drones in Seme border

Published

on

The Nigeria Customs Service has said it will soon deploy drones in Seme for effective patrol in checking smuggling activities in the border area.

The NCS Zone A Coordinator, Modupe Aremu, an Assistant Comptroller General of Customs, disclosed this during a working visit to Seme Border Area Command on Monday.

According to her, border management surveillance will be done electronically through the use of drones to ensure that there will be an area overview of what is happening.

“Seme command visit is the end of my tour in Zone A and I must commend all the commands, they account for over 80 per cent revenue collection by the NCS and so they should keep up the good work.

“With the tour of all commands, I have seen that all the officers are doing well but they can still do better. And I am telling them that they should be expecting impromptu visits from the Zonal Coordinator, so they should not relax on the job.

“Also, e-customs’ N300 billion contract that is end-to-end automation that is about to kick-off is about Information and Communication Technology connectivity; when it comes on board, we are going to have electronic signature, drones patrolling the border,” she said.

She noted that the service was trying to minimize person to person contact to reduce human interaction and make the work faster and more efficient.

Aremu expressed satisfaction with the joint border post buildings that was commissioned on Oct. 23, 2018, noting that it ushered in an era of coordinated border management.

“This is one-stop-shop and from what the comptroller has shown me, it is what is practiced abroad; this is really commendable that what we see when we travel, we have it here in Nigeria,” she said.

She urged Seme Customs to keep abreast of all the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, protocols in order to understand what was happening.

On enforcement activities, she urged the command to keep pushing as the nation at this point in time needed the service to properly secure its borders.

She was optimistic that the scanner at the border would start functioning to help simplify processes as much as possible.

She urged the command to ensure proper compilation of case files and prosecution of arrested suspects to show the seriousness of the service in fighting smuggling.

Earlier, Seme Customs Comptroller, Bello Jibo, noted that enforcement activities were not affected by the border closure as the command made remarkable interception of 1244 suspected smuggled goods with a duty paid value of over N856 million.

 

He noted that despite unfriendly economic policies imposed on goods transiting through Benin Republic, the command was able to collect about N719 million as revenue and processed export volume of 635,149.23 metric tons with free on board value of N15.5 billion.

Jibo said, “The command has a very good understanding with host community and in cementing this relationship, the command built and handed over a modern toilet facility to the Badagry West Development Area and partnered with an NGO to equip the Badagry United Football Club.

“Some projects undergoing work or completed in the command are 16 classrooms for primary school, construction of 30-man rank and file quarters and others.

“The challenges faced has to do with ICT interconnectivity at the Joint Border Patrol, signing of bilateral agreement, connection of the barracks to the national grid and inadequate junior staff.”

Business

Tinubu orders creation of single-digit tax system

Published

on

Tinubu orders creation of single-digit tax system

President Bola Tinubu has directed a creation of a single-digit tax system with a maximum of nine taxes for a company or an individual.

Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji, disclosed this in Abuja while speaking with the management team of Guinness Nigeria who paid him a visit.

A statement on Wednesday by Dare Adekanmbi, Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS chairman, quoted Adedeji as saying, “The President gave a directive that he wants a single-digit tax in the country, meaning that the maximum number of taxes we will have after the work of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms will be nine taxes.”

The statement added that the plan was aimed at having a conducive environment “created for businesses to flourish and grow the economy.”

 

Continue Reading

Business

Naira gains further against dollar

Published

on

Naira gains further against dollar

The Naira rose further in the official market on Tuesday, trading at N1,382.95 to the dollar.

According to data from the FMDQ’s official trading portal, the Naira rose by N25.09, or 1.78 percent, from the previous day’s rate of N1,408 versus the dollar.

On Tuesday, total turnover was $245.58 million, up from $222.15 million on Monday.

Meanwhile, at the Investor’s and Exporters (I&E) window, the Naira traded between N1,486 and N1,300 against the dollar.

READ ALSO:

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had, earlier on Tuesday at its 294th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), raised Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 200 basis points from 22.75 per cent to 24.75 per cent.

CBN governor Yemi Cardoso said that was meant to tackle the nation’s rising inflation.

Naira gains further against dollar

(NAN)

Continue Reading

Business

CBN jacks up interest rate amid soaring inflation

Published

on

CBN jacks up interest rate amid soaring inflation

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday raised the interest rate from 22.75 per cent to 24.75 per cent amid soaring inflation.

Governor of the central bank, Olayemi Cardoso, made this known after the two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held on Monday and Tuesday.

The country’s latest annual inflation rate jumped to 31.70 per cent from 29.90 per cent for last month, fueled by a continuous rise in food prices.

Cardoso disclosed that the MPC voted to adjust the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +100 to -300 basis points.

He said the committee voted to retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 45 per cent for commercial banks and adjust the CRR of merchant banks from 10 per cent to 14 per cent.

The committee also voted to retain the liquidity at 30 per cent.

He said, “Members noted the continued rise in headline inflation driven largely by food prices, because of supply shortages, and high cost of Logistics and Distribution.

“The committee, therefore, was of the view that addressing food insecurity is key to containing current inflationary pressures.”

Continue Reading

Trending

Skip to content