Lawyer Petitions EFCC, ICPC Over Alleged N4m Extortion By Tin Can Island Customs Officers

Lawyer Petitions EFCC

OpenLife Nigeria reports that a Lagos-based legal practitioner, Barrister Dapo Oduwole, has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, as well as the Independent Corrupt Practices (and other related offences) Commission, ICPC, over extortion by officers of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, attached to the Tin Can Island Port, Lagos.

In the petition dated August 12, 2024, the lawyer on behalf of his client, the Registered Trustees of Nnaji Family Foundation, detailed how some officers of the NCS at the ever busy Lagos port, using proxies, forced and or cajoled his client to pay the sum of N4 million in two instalments of N3,500,000 and N500,000 respectively into two bank accounts.

The said accounts were domiciled in First City Monument Bank Plc and UBA Plc.
A copy of the petition obtained by our reporter was addressed to the Zonal Commander, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, 15A, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. It reads:

Dear Sir,
PETITION AGAINST MRS. NGOZI OKWARA, THE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER OF TINCAN ISLAND TERMINAL OF THE NIGERIA CUSTOMS SERVICE AND THE OFFICERS OF CUSTOMS INTELLIGENCE UNIT FOR DEMANDING GRATIFICATION AND EXTORTING FROM NNAJI FAMILY FOUNDATION THE CUMULATIVE SUM OF N4,000,000.00 (FOUR MILLION NAIRA)

We are counsel to the Registered Trustees of Nnaji Family Foundation (Our Client) and it is on her behalf that we write to your good office in line with your statutory duties to investigate financial crimes and corrupt financial practices against Mrs. Ngozi Okwara, the Public Relations Officer of the Tin Can Island Command of the Nigeria Customs Service as well as the Customs Intelligence Unit for demanding and receiving the respective sums of N3,500,000.00 (Three Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira) and N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) from our client, which said cumulative sum was received from our client through proxies, who are Ugwu, Charles Agbo with account number 6522566016 maintained with First City Monument Bank Plc and one Fidelis Nwosu with account number 2175849910 maintained with United Bank for Africa Plc, in the separate sum of N3,500,000.00 (Three Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira) on behalf of Mrs. Ngozi Okwara and N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) on behalf of Customs Intelligence Unit because our client does not have any relationship with the recipients of our client’s fund to warrant or justify payments into the aforesaid accounts. The Transaction receipts dated 14th June, 2024 and 24th June,2024 are attached herewith and marked as Annexures 1 and 2.
From the fact at our disposal, our client is a Non-Profit Making Organization duly registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission on 6th May, 2021.

The aims and objectives of our client include:

i. To improve the lives of adolescents, regardless of their background;
ii. Educate children on the importance of pursuing an education outside of their athletic objectives;
iii. To educate the youth on the value of collaboration through athletic activities; and
iv. Encourage young people to embrace their heritage and culture, increasing confidence and knowledge or who they are.

Our client’s Foundation was founded to provide the youth of this country with opportunities in areas of sports and science and technology to make them a contributing member of the society. By implication, our client’s efforts is laudable and ought to be commended and encouraged rather than the action of some of the innately corrupt and unscrupulous public officers who are seeking to discourage our client from attainment of her aims and objectives for the love of humanity.

The Federal Government, in appreciation of our client’s efforts and contribution to alleviate poverty and stimulate economic growth, granted Tax Incentives through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to our client and the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning by its letter dated 19th April, 2024 granted our client’s Temporary Operational Approval as NGO in Nigeria.

To also ensure that our client comply with all relevant financial regulations, our client was duly registered with Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML). The FIRS Tax Clearance, Temporary Operational Permit and SCUML Certificate are attached herewith and marked as Annexures 4, 5 and 6 respectively.

It is worthy to mention that our client had spent over N400,000,000.00 (Four Hundred Million Naira) to build a Sports Facility in Enugu State, where she provides daily teaching of basketball for free to our youths. Our client’s desire is to build 5 of these facilities across Southeastern Nigeria.

Our client also built a gym and an innovation lab where our children can learn and become very conversant in practical technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), 3D design and printing, engineering, music engineering and other creative technologies.

Our client’s hope is that by the time the enlisted youths are ready for tertiary education, they will be inclined towards choosing technology as a career, which would impact their upward economic mobility.
Our client also plans to provide one meal each day for the enlisted youths, which will cost over N15,000,000.00 (Fifteen Million Naira) per year.

Be that as it may, our client imported 624 packages of charity donated sports and fitness equipment comprised of 161 exercise equipment, 88 household items, 316 weights and 59 boxes of clothes/shoes/miscellaneous items, which were duly inspected and verified and despite the fact that the items were not for sale and strictly for humanitarian purpose, our client paid the sum of N3,013,200.00 (Three Million and Thirteen Thousand, Two Hundred Naira) to the Nigeria Customs as Import Duty and sundry fees.

A copy of the Bill of Lading No: MEDUVD562082 dated 19th March, 2024 and Evidence of payment to Nigeria Customs Service are attached herewith and respectively marked as Annexures 7 and 8.
Ordinarily, our client’s consignment is designated duty free but due to the bureaucracy of the Nigeria Customs Service, our client had to pay import duties.

Despite the payment made by our client, the aforesaid Mrs. Ngozi Okwara, who is the Public Relations Officer of Nigeria Custom Service, Tin Can Island Terminal insisted that unless the sum of N3,500,000.00 (Three Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira) is paid by our client as gratification which would be spread around the key offices within Tin Can Island Command, the relevant documents would not be signed.

In a bid to ensure that our client’s consignment does not attract demurrage, our client was constrained to pay the aforesaid sum of N3,500,000.00 (Three Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira) into “a takedown” account in the name of Ugwu, Charles Agbo with account number 6522566016 maintained with First City Monument Bank Plc.

When our client thought it had scaled the hurdle, albeit, reluctantly, our client was confronted by another demand for gratification by the Customs Intelligence Unit (CIU) who insisted that the sum of N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) must be paid before they perform their statutory duties.

Our client’s representative engaged the aforesaid Mrs. Ngozi Okwara who stated that the Custom Intelligence Unit (CIU) are under the Comptroller General and report directly to Abuja. Consequently, our client had to pay additional sum of N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) to the Custom Intelligence Unit (CIU) through a “takedown account” in the name of Mr. Fidelis Nwosu with account number 2175849910 maintained with United Bank for Africa Plc.

Our client is disturbed and distraught by the level of corruption within the Nigeria Customs Service which appears endemic. It is not in doubt that the corrupt practices of some of the officers of the Nigeria Customs Service is inflicting hardship on Nigerians because by their act of extortion places so much burden on importers, any person who imports goods into Nigeria would pay more at least double of the amount payable to the Federal Government to some unscrupulous officers of the Nigeria Customs Service as bribe.

We also wish to state that despite the extortion of our client by the afore stated persons, our client still made payments at every checkpoint mounted by the Nigeria Customs Service from Lagos State to Enugu State, which is disheartening, discouraging and threatens the sustainability of our client’s aims and objectives.

Also, the action of the Nigeria Customs Service is discouraging Non-profit making organizations from extending humanitarian services to Nigerians.

We also wish to state that it was the corrupt practices within some officers of Nigeria Customs Service that led to Panalpina World Transport Limited to relocate out of Nigeria because their continued operations in Nigeria was violating the United States of America Laws because the company would expend millions of Dollars on “PR” that cannot be receipted. Please note that “PR” is the term coined to make bribe sound seeming.

Sir, if this trend is not addressed, Non-profit making organizations like our client would lose credibility because inability to give comprehensive account of how donations made by kindhearted individuals and organizations are utilized would soon portray her as not being transparent.

In view of the foregoing, we hereby request that our client’s petition be given the attention it requires and professionally investigated to bring the culprits and their allies to justice in a bid to sanitize the Nigeria Customs Service for the betterment of Nigeria’s economy and growth.

In anticipation of your prompt reaction, we thank you.