The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), has plans to auction thousands of uncleared imported vehicles in Lagos State if the owners fail to comply with the newly introduced Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) valuation policy.
NCS Area Comptroller of Ports Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML), Festus Oyedele Okun, but the number of vehicles manufactured before 2013 at 7,000.
“We have about 7,000 vehicles at the ports. They are mainly vehicles manufactured before 2013,’’ Okun said
However, an importer, who declined to be named, said he believed that they are over 10,000 in the two ports in Apapa and bonded terminals in the state.
NCS Public Relations Officer (PRO), Tin-Can Island Port, Uche Ejesieme, told The Nation that the vehicles would be moved from the ports and bonded terminals to the government warehouse in Ikorodu for auctioning, if their importers fail to pay the right duties as required by the VIN after 90 days.
He explained that the movement of the vehicles will begin once the terminal operators generate Uncleared Cargo Lists (UCL) to enable the NCS to declare the overtime cargoes.
Ejesieme said that the service needed space inside the ports to facilitate legitimate business.
