An attempt by some unscrupulous officers of the Nigeria Customs Service to clear a 20-foot container loaded with fake pharmaceutical products has been foiled by the operatives of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.
The container was imported into the country through the Apapa Port aboard a vessel, MV Maersk Izmir, which arrived on May 15, 2008.
Briefing journalists in Lagos on Friday, NAFDAC�s Director of Port Inspection, Mr. Dioka Ejionueme, said the agency used its existing information network to monitor the vessel before its arrival and subsequently issued a notice to the Customs, APMT and Maerskline Limited on May 8.
According to him, �Some intrigues that nearly resulted in the fraudulent release of the container were discovered before NAFDAC took possession of the fake products. While the container was positioned for examination on May 20, 2008, the NAFDAC officer detailed to monitor the movement of the container suddenly noticed that the seal had been broken. Then, a padlock was seen affixed to the container shortly after. Yet nobody owned up to being the agent for the container.�
The director said it was at this stage that seizure notice and request for examination were issued by the agency, adding that no Customs officer accepted responsibility for either the removal of the seal or the affixing of the padlock.
He said, �There were more shocking developments/discoveries. For instance, while the Customs officers were doubting if the container had actually been positioned for examination, they discovered to their apparent surprise from their own records that the Single Goods Declaration form for the container had already been released on May 15, which is the same day the vessel arrived.
�The impression conveyed by such release was that the contents of the container had been examined by both NAFDAC and the Customs, when no such examination took place. This intriguing development led to NAFDAC issuing an immediate evacuation notice to the Customs, APMT, Maerskline and the Nigerian Ports Authority.�
He said forged signatures as well as forged first and second stamps were discovered to have been used in the fraudulent transaction, while the name of the company in the manifest as importers of the products was B.K.B Enterprises, Onitsha. He said another name, Embassy Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals Company Limited was used in the failed release by some Customs officers.