The Tin-Can Island Port command of the Nigeria Customs Service says it has generated N112,696,693,158 in the first quarter of 2021.
Customs Area Controller, Mba Musa, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos on Friday.
The revenue earnings for the first quarter, which stood at N112,695,693,158.66, shows an improvement of about N21.05 billion (23 per cent) when compared with revenue earnings of N91 billion in the first quarter of 2020, Musa said.
He said: “The comparative analysis of quarter one revenue collection from 2018 to 2021 are as follows: in 2018, N76,789,721,107.42; in 2019, N78,857,106,168.27; and in 2020, N91,635,998,490.73.
“This improvement, despite the twin threats to lives and livelihood posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the command has inspired its officers to continue to work hard while observing all the safety measures to achieve the best of performance.
“We kept our lines of communication open and concerted effort was made to ensure that the supply chain was not disrupted.”
Musa said during the period under review, anti-smuggling activities yielded result with a spectacular seizure 43.110kg of cocaine concealed in Raw Bulk Sugar.
“20 suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure and detaining of the vessel MV SPAR SCORPIO,” he said.
He said the Command had handed over the case file, suspects and the vessel to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for further investigation.
Musa said the command had put measures in place to facilitate legitimate trade, and that the Dispute Resolution Committee and the Help Desk have been re-jigged with a mandate to attend expeditiously to all trade-related disputes.