Headlines

Nigeria Customs modernisation project to check extortion of traders

Published

12 months ago

June 6, 2024

The Trade Modernisation Project (TMP) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), will check the extortion of traders by facilitating the comprehensive tracking of their goods from the beginning of the trade process until delivery.

This is through its Unified Customs Management System(UCMS), a software that would be deployed to monitor all stages of the transactions by traders.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that the TMP is the automation of the business processes of the NCS, to simplify and enhance the experience of stakeholders in the trade value chain.

It is also aimed at making it easy to obtain export and import clearances, and in paying duties and obtaining release of goods.

NAN further reports that the customs modernisation project, which has three phases, is a 20-year concession agreement.

It was signed on May 27, 2023, between the Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by the NCS Board, and The Trade Modernisation Project Ltd.

Chief Superintendent of Customs, Usman Abba, Head, Business Analyst for the project, told NAN in an interview on Thursday in Abuja that by using the software traders would be able to know when and where there were hitches in their transactions for redress.

Abba said the system would eliminate fraudulent intent and expose those who take advantage of clients who cannot properly track their goods with the current system to extort them.

“This is the platform where the trader has access and is able to track all the stages of transactions and know where the challenge or exactly the issue is until the goods are delivered,“ he said.

He said that the service had received numerous reports of agents attempting to extract additional funds from their clients, by falsely claiming that their goods had not been cleared by customs when the process had already been completed.

According to him, the software, which will soon be inaugurated, is designed to have information on all transactions, including payments and goods clearance, to enable the trader to act as required.

He added that other agencies were also being integrated into the system to examine goods according to their constitutional mandates

On the current stage of the development of the software, Abba said that all internal systems had been completed, and final touches were being done on stakeholder integration.

NAN reports that the TMP is targeting to generate more than 250 billion Dollars in revenue over the 20-year concession.

The project is aimed at bringing Nigeria to par with the rest of the world in the deployment of technology to facilitate international trade.

It would also assist the Federal Government in achieving economic diversification by facilitating easier cross-border trading.

(NAN)

Education

NUC grants ESUT full accreditation for Law, 7 other programmes

Published

40 minutes ago

May 21, 2025

Saadatu Sahabo

The National Universities Commission, (NUC), has given full accreditation to the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), for her Law programme.

According to the Public Relations Officer of ESUT, Mr Ikechukwu Ani, this is contained in a letter addressed to the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Aloysius Okolie, on Wednesday in Enugu by the NUC.

Ani said that in the letter, the Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu said the report was contained in the result of the October/November 2024 accreditation of academic programmes in Nigerian universities.

Ani disclosed that other programmes in the institution accredited by the NUC include Master of Science in Business Management; Education Computer Science; Education Physics and Agricultural Engineering.

Other accredited programmes he said were Quantity Surveying; Urban and Regional Planning; and Applied Microbiology.

He said that the letter quoted Section 10 (1) of the Education National Minimum Standard and Establishment of Institutions, Act CAP E3, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 as empowering the NUC to lay down minimum academic standards for all academic programmes taught in Nigerian universities.

He said the session also empowers the NUC to accredit such programmes.

Crime

Court remands 2 over alleged attempted murder

Published

58 minutes ago

May 21, 2025

Saadatu Sahabo

Court discharges man accused of burning father’s house in Abuja

An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, on Wednesday, remanded two persons, Olaitan Fasasi and Kehinde Tobiloba in a correctional facility over alleged attempted murder.

Fasasi, 40, and Tobiloba, 26, whose addresses were not provided, are being charged with conspiracy, attempted murder and membership of a secret society.

The Magistrate, Mr L.A Owolabi, did not take the plea of the defendants for want of jurisdiction.

Owolabi directed the police to forward the case file to the Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice.

He thereafter adjourned the case until May 31 for mention.

The Prosecutor, Josephine Ikhayere, told the court that the defendants committed the offences at about 5.02p.m on Feb. 15, at Mushin, Lagos.

She said that Fasasi, Tobiloba and others now at large, attempted to commit murder by shooting at a resident, Alfred Ademola.

“They armed themselves with a locally made gun. They belong to Eiye Confraternity, a group proscribed by law,”, she said.

Ikhayere said that the offences contravened Sections 230(1) and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2012.

He said that the actions of the defendants also contravened Section 2(3)(a)(b)(c)(d) of the unlawful societies and Cultism Law of Lagos State Law.

Headlines

Plateau Governor Sets Up Committee to Probe Two Decades of Attacks

Published

22 hours ago

May 20, 2025

Matthew Eloyi

Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, has inaugurated a 10-member fact-finding committee tasked with uncovering the root causes of the persistent attacks plaguing communities across the state.

Speaking during the inauguration ceremony on Tuesday in Jos, Governor Mutfwang charged the committee with conducting a comprehensive review of violent incidents from 2001 to date. “We thought that we should set up this high-powered fact-finding committee to look at the incessant attacks on our communities,” the governor stated.

According to Mutfwang, the committee is expected to perform an in-depth assessment of the recurring security breaches, determine the number of affected communities, and assess the extent of damage done over the years. “We want to understand the root causes and propose actionable recommendations for lasting peace, justice, and stability in the affected communities,” he said.

The committee’s mandate also includes establishing the number of casualties, identifying possible perpetrators and their motives, and uncovering potential routes used by bandits to access Plateau State. “Identify possible routes of bandits into the state and recommend measures to limit their access,” the governor added.

Chairman of the committee, retired Maj.-Gen. Rojas Nicholas, thanked the governor for the confidence reposed in the members. He pledged that the committee would approach its assignment with fairness and commitment. “We will do our best to produce a report that would befit its assignment,” Nicholas assured.

The committee is expected to submit its findings and recommendations in due course, with hopes that the report will provide a pathway to durable peace and security in the state.