The Court of Appeal in Kaduna has ruled that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) cannot seize foreign rice from buyers on highways or in open markets, limiting its enforcement powers strictly to land borders.
Delivering the judgment on Wednesday, Justice Ntong Ntong, speaking for a three-member appellate panel, described the confiscation of goods on highways as illegal.
This decision arose from an appeal filed by the NCS challenging a Federal High Court ruling that acquitted Suleiman Mohammed, a businessman, of allegations related to importing foreign goods.
The court ordered the immediate release of 613 bags of foreign rice, 80 bags of millet valued at approximately N200 million, and a truck confiscated from Mohammed on June 14, 2019, along the Kaduna-Zaria Expressway.
Justice Ntong emphasized that the Kaduna-Zaria Expressway is not classified as a land border, meaning it does not fall under Customs’ jurisdiction for enforcing bans on foreign rice imports.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has no authority to patrol highways or expressways to arrest individuals and seize goods under the pretense of enforcing importation bans,” the judgment declared.
The court reviewed the appeal documents, trial court judgment, legal briefs, and exhibits, concurring with the lower court’s ruling that the Kaduna-Zaria Expressway does not qualify as a “land border” under the law.
The judgment clarified that Mohammed was a buyer of rice and millet from Gusau Central Market in Zamfara State, as evidenced by his purchase receipt, and was not involved in importation.
Justice Ntong criticized the NCS for targeting ordinary market buyers instead of importers, likening the situation to a fowl ignoring its killer and chasing the person plucking its feathers.
He further noted that contraband goods typically enter the country through land borders, which are under Customs’ primary jurisdiction, not highways or markets.
The court also faulted the NCS for conducting “poor investigations from the comfort of their offices.” It ruled that if the seized items—rice, millet, and the truck—could not be returned, the NCS must compensate the respondent with the current market value of the confiscated goods.
In dismissing the appeal, Justice Ntong Ntong directed the Nigeria Customs Service to comply immediately with the court’s orders.
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