By OKEY IBEKE
FOR sometime now, the Nigeria Customs Service has been having a running battle with operators in the Tinapa Free Zone and Resort, Calabar, CrossRiverState. At the centre of the battle is the temporary stoppage of unrestricted movement of imported consignments to the free trade zone by Customs.

As a result of this action, all manner of vitriolic attacks and invectives have been poured on the Customs by some so-called investors in the zone. There have been a series of publications, news stories and feature articles sponsored by these ‘investors’ all in a bid to paint the Nigeria Customs Service in bad light and portray it as a killer of foreign trade instead of a facilitator.

In all these media outings, conscious efforts were made to portray the Customs as an organization that does not know its responsibilities in trade matters, or is out to frustrate investors in the zone. The publications even tried to play the management of Customs against the people of the South-South and South- East, all in a bid to draw unmerited sympathy to the unpatriotic acts and economic sabotage that have been going on at Tinapa.

As a keen observer of the events in Tinapa and someone well-acquainted with Customs operations, one is constrained to debunk the falsehoods, half-truths and wild claims contained in this particular publication. First, one would like to know what manner and level of investment these so-called investors have at Tinapa. What have they invested?

It is pertinent to know that these people who call themselves investors are mere importers/traders whose investment is only renting shops and market stalls at the free zone. That is why it will be easy for any of them to leave the zone at the slightest provocation.

Hear one of their arguments in the said publication: “Tinapa could easily be killed because it is basically a free trade zone. Unlike in manufacturing zones where investors may find it difficult to leave because of machinery and other fixed assets, free trade zone investors can ship out at the drop of a hat because they are engaged in trade. That is to say, they can close shop if they cannot replenish their stock and bringing them back will not be a piece of cake.”

That the so-called investors “can ship out at the drop of a hat”clearly shows that they have no investment in the zone. All they are interested in is buying and selling and then collaborating with fraudulent foreigners to defraud the Federal Government of revenue. Investigations have revealed that most of these traders are fronting for fraudulent Chinese business men whose activities are well known in Nigeria.

It must be noted that Tinapa was conceptualized to be like Dubai where foreigners can come for holidays, enjoy themselves and do some shopping. People from neighbouring countries –  Cameroun, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, CentralAfricaRepublic, etc. – can come and enjoy the facilities at the zone and do their shopping.

Though people from the host state and neighbouring states also can come to the zone for their shopping, the main targets are foreigners who are expected to come with foreign exchange.

Critical observation of the free trade zone shows that inhabitants of Calabar hardly go there to shop, let alone citizens from other local governments or people from neighbouring states. One can find Tinapa bubbling with activities, that is, the business of buying and selling as you have in a market or supermarket. That raises the question: where do all the high volume of goods shipped into the free zone go to?

The answer to this question is not far-fetched as on investigation, it was revealed that importers at the zone use fictitious names to raise invoices of less than N50,000 each and use them to spirit goods out of the zone.

By so doing, they beat Customsmen who are supposed to collect duty only on purchases in excess of N50,000. It is not really a case of loading the goods in trucks and passing through the gate and one lane access road without Customs stopping them as insinuated in the said publication.

The article stated that a trade attaché of the Cameroonian Consulate and his delegation visited the zone sometime ago. According to the writer, “their mission was to find out why goods belonging to Cameroonian nationals were being detained at Onne.” He added that his investigations revealed that “businessmen from Cameroon and elsewhere have started using other routes to transit their goods into their home countries.”

Reacting to this, a maritime operator, Chief Lawal Adekoya, questioned why a Cameroonian national who imports goods through the OnnePort should route it through Tinapa. “Is Tinapa a port? The importer should complete his Customs formalities at Onne and take delivery of his goods and go. If the consignment is not meant for sale at Tinapa, why should it go there?

The Cameroonian attaché coming to Tinapa in Calabar to ask why goods destined for Cameroon is being detained in Onne does not really add up. Naturally, the goods that should leave Tinapa are goods purchased from the trade zone. It is not consignment going to Cameroon or elsewhere.

Lots of  contradictions

Is the writer and the Cameroonian attaché he is quoting saying that goods purchased by Cameroonians at the trade zone are being detained by Customs? You can see a lot of contradictions,” he said.

Commenting on the clampdown, chief spokesman for the group that calls itself ‘Investors Operating Within Tinapa’, Mr.Namso Nyong, questioned if the smuggling Customs are alleging in Tinapa take place when the goods are being transferred from Onne to Tinapa. He maintained that since Customs officers escort the container that leaves OnnePort to Tinapa, Customs should be held accountable for any diversion.

To some extent, this argument is valid. But the question is: Can one say because a Customs officer escorts a container and the container is diverted, a case of smuggling or cargo diversion cannot be established? Does the collaboration of a fraudulent Customs officer vitiate the crime that has been committed? No doubt, there are some collaborators among Customsmen that aid and abet the economic sabotage and abuse of the free trade zone policy.

But that does not mean that the Nigeria Customs Service should take its eyes away and allow the crime to continue.

Another argument of the group that needs to be corrected is where it faulted Customs blanket action in a bid to get the culprits. The argument: “So, if you want to engage or take action against an individual, you trace him or her and take the necessary action. I have not seen where they closed Nigeria because some Nigerians are fraudsters.” This simplistic argument can sway any uninformed mind.