The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has clarified that the federal government has not lifted the ban on vehicle importation through the Seme border. Hussaini Abdullahi, the Customs Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of the Seme Area Command, made this statement during an interview in Seme, Lagos State.
Abdullahi explained that the NCS had not made any pronouncement regarding the lifting of the ban, although a proposal was submitted by some freight forwarders to the federal government following advice from the former Minister of State for Transportation, Ademola Adegoroye.
According to Abdullahi, during a visit to the border in February, Adegoroye inaugurated some projects and received a complaint from the freight forwarders about the adverse effects of the ban on their operations. The minister advised them to submit their requests in writing.
The Customs spokesman further stated that a recent visit by Ibrahim Musa, the Director of Road Transport in the Ministry of Transportation, confirmed that the letter from the freight forwarders had been received and acted upon by the ministry, which subsequently forwarded it to higher authorities.
It should be noted that the Seme border was among the four land borders reopened by the federal government on December 16, 2020, as announced by the former Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed. Prior to the reopening, the Nigerian government had ordered the closure of the borders on August 21, 2019, to combat smuggling of goods and weapons.
