The Authority in charge of the Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, on Thursday, said it generated about N791 billion as revenue into the federal government's coffers between January and September 2022.

It said this is an improvement of N181.5 billion, as against N609 billion it collected in the corresponding months of 2021.

It said the amount represents 29.8 per cent increment.

The Customs Area Controller, Apapa Area Command, Yusuf Malanta Ibrahim, made this known while showcasing the achievements of his command in the last nine months.

He noted that the remarkable achievement was made possible because of the officers' tireless commitment to ensure that all revenue leakages were being mitigated, as well as sustaining the level of compliance by the importers/stakeholders in the clearance value chain.

On the anti-smuggling activities of the command, he said suppression of smuggling has always been one of the command's focal points, especially with the activities of some unrepentant traders who, according to him, "are always looking for avenues to undermine our system."

He said the command has fortified its forensic manifest management to monitor and detect fraudulent transactions through audit and ensure that illicit trade was tracked before the declarations are lodged.

"Furthermore, the enforcement unit has been reinforced through improved collaboration and sharing of credible intelligence with relevant government agencies to suppress smuggling activities to the barest minimum.

"For the period under review, the command recorded 145 seizures of various items with a duty paid value (DPV) of N12.5 billion

"These seized items include unregistered medicaments such as tramadol and codeine, processed/unprocessed wood, used clothing, ladies/ men's footwear, foreign parboiled rice, tomato paste, vegetable oil and other sundry items that fall under the import/export prohibition list.