Immigration, Customs Accused of Exploiting Passengers at Lagos Airport

Dikko

 Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS) operating at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos (MMIA) has been accused of forcefully collecting $1,000 (N160, 000) from foreigners, especially Chinese and Indians whose Nigerian visa expired as at the time they were leaving the country.

Also, the Nigeria Customs Services has been alleged to be collecting money from Nigerian traders who bring in goods from ECOWAS countries. They are made to pay N10, 000 for every luggage they have, including hand luggage.

An inside source told Journalists that since more than two months ago Chinese and Indian passengers with expired visa leaving the country through the Lagos airport are being made to pay a fine of $1000 to the NIS without which they were not allowed to board their flights.

The consequence was that those who could not afford to pay the money were left stranded at the airport as they missed their flights.
  Greenwich News learnt that the money was collected in cash and there was no indication that it was remitted to the coffers of the Nigeria Immigration Service.

“So the question is: Are they remitting the money to Immigration? If they are what law is backing that they should be collecting the money? As far as I know there is no law in the statute that authorised such collection and I know that the National Assembly is yet to pass the amended Immigration law, which has been there for eight years,” an inside source told news men.
It is reported that everyday 30 to 40 Chinese and Indians leaving the country were stopped at the Immigration profiling section and they either had to pay the said amount of money or not board their flights.

“The Chinese and Indians usually have boarding passes but would not be allowed to pass. We know that visa is done on reciprocity. By asking them to pay this money as penalty is not bad if it is backed by law and if the money is remitted to Immigration because I know how they treat Nigerians who over stay their visa. They usually deny them boarding of their flights and at the end deport them as illegal immigrants”

The source also explained that why this involved largely Indians and Chinese was because most of them come to Nigeria to work, but they hardly obtain Nigerian work permit at the Nigerian embassies overseas, “so they come with business visa or tourist visa which only last about three months and they usually stay behind to work for a long time after the expiration of their visa and are forced to pay that $1000 “penalty” by the Immigration at the airport.

  Journalists spoke with the Public Relations Officer of Immigration at the airport, simply identified as Mr. Olaniyan, a superintendent of Immigration and when he was questioned whether the money was remitted to Immigration he answered: “It is out of courtesy that I decided to allow you come into my office. We have not known each other before so I didn’t want to appear rude or to embarrass you.

Officially I am not supposed to tell you anything as long as this uniform is on me. So I cannot tell you even A.”
For the Customs, the officials claimed what they collected on traders’ baggage are duties.

A Nigerian woman who travelled to Senegal and bought goods told news men how she was forced to pay N10, 000 for her hand luggage.
“When we arrived from Dakar early in the morning on July 10, 2012 we waited for our luggage. Mine did not arrive that day but I had a handbag, which a Customs official insisted I must pay for. I protested that this was my hand luggage, but he asked me to open the bag, which I did, so he looked inside and insisted that I must pay N10, 000.00.

“He said that it was what they were asked to do. I paid the money at (one of the banks) and they gave me a receipt, but it was not a bank teller. They used to ask us to pay N5, 000 before but now it is N10, 000 for each bag. So if you come with 10 bags you pay N100, 000.”

Reacting to the allegation, the Spokesman of  Customs at the Lagos Airport, Odun Saturday, told news men that what the women were asked to pay was official duty charged by Customs.

“Customs made the duty uniform and we charge them that duty because they bring in imported goods from outside West Africa, although they go to Dakar to buy them. If it is those materials that are made in Ghana we don’t charge duty on them but this one is embroidery, which you know is imported into Senegal, so value has been added and it is based on that value that we charge duty on the goods.”

Saturday also explained that although trade liberalisation is encouraged among West Africa countries, but importing manufactured goods from outside the sub region should be discouraged. He added that if a person travelled outside this country and buy personal items he cannot pay duty on them.