The Court of Appeal in Kaduna has ruled that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) cannot confiscate foreign rice from buyers in open markets or on highways, restricting its enforcement authority to land borders.
Delivering the judgment on Wednesday, Justice Ntong Ntong, speaking for the three-member appellate panel, declared the seizure of goods on highways as unlawful.
The ruling followed an appeal filed by Customs against a Federal High Court judgment that acquitted Suleiman Mohammed, a businessman, of charges related to the importation of foreign goods.
The court ordered the immediate release of 613 bags of foreign rice, 80 bags of millet worth approximately N200 million, and a truck impounded from Mohammed on June 14, 2019, along the Kaduna-Zaria Expressway.
Justice Ntong clarified that the Kaduna-Zaria Expressway is not a land border and, therefore, does not fall under Customs’ jurisdiction for enforcing bans on foreign rice imports.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has no right to patrol highways or expressways to arrest individuals and confiscate goods under the guise of importation bans,” the judgment stated.
Justice Ntong stated that he had thoroughly reviewed the appeal records, including the trial court’s judgment, parties’ briefs, statutes, and exhibits, and concurred with the trial court’s ruling that the Kaduna-Zaria Expressway does not qualify as a “land border” under the law.
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The court ruled that the defendant was merely a purchaser of rice and millet from the Central Market in Gusau, Zamfara State, supported by a receipt of purchase, and was not an importer.
It stated that the Nigeria Customs Service should have apprehended the importer rather than targeting an ordinary buyer in the open market.
Citing an Annang idiom, Justice Ntong remarked that it was illogical for a fowl to ignore its killer and chase the person de-feathering it, suggesting that customs officials were wrongly pursuing petty traders and consumers instead of addressing the real culprits—the importers.
The court also noted that contraband goods typically enter the country through borders, which are the primary jurisdiction of customs enforcement.
Furthermore, the Court of Appeal criticized the Nigeria Customs Service for conducting “a shoddy investigation from the comfort of their office.”
It ruled that if it was impossible to return the confiscated rice, millet, and truck, the Nigeria Customs Service Board must compensate the respondent with an amount equivalent to the current market value of the seized items.
In dismissing the appeal, Justice Ntong Ntong ordered the Nigeria Customs Service to comply immediately with the court’s directives.
