News
Reps Demands Full Disclosure from Customs, NPA, CBN, NACCIMA Over Pre-Shipment Probe
…direct agencies to file comprehensive records as investigation resumes
By Gloria Ikibah
The House of Representatives has stepped up its investigation into pre-shipment inspection of exports and the alleged non-remittance of crude oil proceeds, directing key government agencies and a major private sector body to submit detailed documentation on their roles.
At a resumed hearing on Wednesday, the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee on the Investigation of Pre-Shipment Inspection of Exports and the Non-Remittance of Crude Oil Proceeds, Rep. Seyi Sowunmi, instructed the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) to provide comprehensive records requested by the committee.
The directive followed presentations by representatives of the agencies, which the committee described as incomplete and not sufficiently up to date. Lawmakers indicated that fresh dates will be communicated for the agencies to return with fuller submissions.
Earlier in the session, the organisations outlined their respective responsibilities in relation to the pre-shipment of oil and non-oil exports at various terminals across the country.
Representing the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, Deputy Comptroller-General Caroline Diagwan told the committee that the Service’s involvement in pre-shipment processes is guided strictly by its establishing Act and other relevant laws. She explained that Customs operates within the statutory framework governing export procedures and compliance.
The committee maintained that a clearer and more detailed account of each institution’s role is essential to determine whether due process has been followed and whether export proceeds, particularly from crude oil shipments, have been properly accounted for.
She said, “Our role as regards export of food is we get what we call NXP, and then certificate of inspection, as well as export permit. We now make sure that those documents tally with what has been exported at the point of export. So we do examination as well as physicalization of food.
“That is the role we play.We make sure that what is being exported tallies with the documents sent to us by the CBN, that’s the NXP, and then the export permit from NUPRC. We are there at the point of inspection. After inspection, that’s when they do the exportation. Customs are there with other government agencies.
“We don’t collect export duties, actually. And we don’t really know how much money they are paying to the government, because that’s not our purview. So as long as the documents they issue to us clearly with what is there physically, they are good to go.
“The export takes place at export terminals under oil and gas command in Port Harcourt, as well as other commands in Edo Delta. So these controllers of these commands, they send monthly returns to the headquarters on all the activities, which include all exports as well as imports”.
On his part, a Director of the CBN, Dr Musa Nakurji, who represented the CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso stated that, the CBN acts as the rallying point of the activities of the other agencies through platforms that process the data and information.
He said, “So, regarding the issue of pre-shipment inspection, by the Act of 1992, Central Bank is actually saddled with the responsibility of the administrative side of it. So let me first of all start by making a bit of a correction. If you look at the pre-inspection act, Central Bank does not appoint the pre-inspection agent.
“Then the second thing again, in terms of the form NXP, we don’t send anything manually to Customs.The process is automated. And Customs latch on to that to get their report.
“So in Central Bank, we have the trade monetary system. This is happens on that the trade monetary system and the SVP. So from the bank, the commercial bank of the exporter, they open the form NXP.
“And now there is what is being referred to as clean certificate of inspection. So anything that is going out, the pre-inspection agent will have to inspect that in terms of the quantity, the quality and the value. If they do that and they’re satisfied with what they have, they now issue a CCI”.
In his submission, the General Manager in charge of Tariff at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ibrahim Lukman, who represented the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, outlined the authority’s involvement in the pre-shipment process.
He explained that the NPA deploys designated agents to export terminals, where they monitor activities and transmit relevant information back to the authority.
According to him, the agency operates within clearly defined statutory boundaries and collaborates closely with other government bodies in carrying out its responsibilities at the ports.
Also addressing the committee, a Director of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dr Emmanuel Akeh, described the organisation as the umbrella body for chambers of commerce across the country. He clarified that NACCIMA plays no role in crude oil exports. Its function, he said, is limited to issuing certificates of origin for non-oil exports — trade documents used to verify the source and authenticity of goods being shipped abroad.
“Because part of the problems Mr. President is trying to cure is that we should account for every cover that accrues to the nation. And that is what this committee seeks to achieve.
“Please, we’re going to get back to you, we’re going to write to you, and then, any necessities that we need, submit on time”.
The Committee Chairman underscored the importance of the inquiry. He noted that the investigation is central to efforts aimed at plugging revenue leakages and ensuring that the country does not continue to lose much-needed income through gaps in the export process.
The Committee therefore ruled that, the agencies will be informed about the dates to appear before the Committee and submit the needed comprehensive documents requested.
Japa on reverse lane as the United States Department of Homeland Security, DHS, has updated its list of Nigerians facing removal from the country, reducing the number to 112 and publishing their names and photographs online.
The latest list features Nigerians from different parts of the country and was published through the DHS official website.
Among those listed are Cletus Onyali, Olaolu Alabi, Marcus Unigwe, Mkpouto Etukudoh, Blessing Uchanma, Olaniyi Ojikutu, Richard Ugbah, Oluwamuyiwa Olawoye, Anthony Asanya and Ebele Agbasiele
Others identified on the list include Izuchukwu Okoye, Olufemi Olufisayo Olutiola, Abiemwense Obanor, Chibuzo Nwaonu, Oluchi Jennifer Chimdimma Chime, Ifeanyi Okoro, Oluwaseun Kassim, Quazeem Adeyinka and Talatu Dada.
The complete list contains 112 names, with the photographs and details of the other individuals available through the DHS online portal.
The publication comes amid stepped-up immigration enforcement by the US government, particularly involving undocumented immigrants and individuals with outstanding removal orders.
It also comes against the backdrop of efforts by US authorities to obtain increased cooperation from foreign governments in receiving their nationals who have been ordered to leave the United States.
Nigeria has previously faced pressure from the US over the repatriation of its nationals subject to deportation.
The updated publication provides public access to the identities and photographs of the Nigerians currently identified by DHS for removal from the United States.
The Department of State Services, DSS, on Thursday re-arraigned five men accused of complicity in the May 15 kidnap of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State and the subsequent killing of two of the victims.
They were arraigned on a seven-count amended charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2026, filed by the DSS on behalf of the Federal Government.
The defendants, accused of being members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan (ANSARU) terrorist group, are Mahmud Muhammad (aka Abu Bara’a, Abbas Mukhtar); Abubakar Abbas (aka Isah Adam, Mallam Mahmuda Al-Nigeri); Abdulrazak Umar (aka Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid); Yunusa Musa (aka Abu Yunusa Bin Musa); and Shamsu Adamu Sani (aka Abu Itisar).
All five defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them by the Registrar of the court.
The Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, who led the DSS legal team, applied for the immediate trial of the defendants in line with the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
He also applied for the names of witnesses lined up to testify in the trial to be shielded and for them to be permitted to wear masks to ensure their protection.
Following no objection from counsel to the defendants, Bala Dakum, Justice Salim Ibrahim granted the request of the DSS counsel.
At the time of filing this report, arrangements for the full-scale trial were being put in place.
LAGOS — A post-mortem examination conducted by the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) has confirmed that 20-year-old journalist Pelumi Onifade died from a penetrating firearm injury to the abdomen.
The finding is contained in a six-page autopsy report dated July 30, 2026, and submitted to the Lagos State Coroner’s Court investigating the circumstances surrounding the young journalist’s death during the October 2020 #EndSARS protests.
According to the report, Onifade died from massive haemoperitoneum, a severe accumulation of blood in the abdominal cavity, caused by a high-velocity projectile that penetrated his abdomen.
The forensic finding provides medical evidence establishing a gunshot injury as the cause of death, while the circumstances surrounding who fired the shot and the events that followed remain matters before the coroner’s proceedings.
How Onifade Died
Onifade was a 200-level History student of Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED) and worked as an intern reporter with Gboah TV, a Lagos-based online news platform.
On October 24, 2020, during the nationwide #EndSARS protests against police brutality, he was assigned to cover an attempted looting at a government palliative storage facility in the Abattoir area of Oko-Oba, Agege, Lagos.
According to accounts presented by his family and colleagues, Onifade was wearing a press jacket and carrying reporting equipment when officers attached to the Lagos State Task Force opened fire while attempting to disperse the crowd.
He was reportedly struck by a bullet and subsequently taken away in a police van, commonly referred to as a Black Maria.
A colleague who was with him at the scene reportedly attempted to identify him as a journalist and explain that he was carrying camera equipment, but those efforts were unsuccessful.
Onifade was not seen alive again after that incident.
Family Searched Police Stations, Hospitals
Following his disappearance, his family and colleagues searched police stations, detention facilities and hospitals across Lagos in an attempt to establish his whereabouts.
According to the family, police authorities denied having him in custody.
Six days later, on October 30, 2020, the family located his body at the mortuary of Ikorodu General Hospital, where it had been registered as a “brought-in-dead” case under body number 1385.
The discovery triggered years of demands for an independent investigation into how the young journalist died and how his remains ended up in the mortuary.
DNA Test Identified the Body
The identity of the body was subsequently confirmed through forensic DNA testing.
Results from the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre established a match between the unidentified body bearing tag number 1385 and reference samples obtained from Onifade’s parents.
The DNA confirmation provided a crucial breakthrough after years of uncertainty surrounding the whereabouts and identity of the missing journalist.
Court Ordered Coroner’s Inquest
The search for accountability later moved into the courts.
In July 2024, Justice Ayokunle Olayinka Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the Lagos State Government and the police to conduct a coroner’s inquest into Onifade’s death.
The objective of the inquest is to establish the circumstances surrounding his death and determine the facts surrounding the actions of the security personnel involved.
The ongoing proceedings before the Lagos State Coroner’s Court are being presided over by Magistrate Temitope Oladele.
Following the submission of the post-mortem report, the court has directed key witnesses, including police personnel who were on duty in the Oko-Oba area on October 24, 2020, to appear and testify.
Rights Groups Demand Accountability
Media Rights Agenda (MRA), which has supported the Onifade family in its legal efforts, has described the post-mortem findings as significant evidence in the case.
Rights activists, journalist unions, and the deceased’s family continue to demand the public prosecution of the police officers who fired the shot and those who supervised the deployment during the Lagos #EndSARS demonstrations.
Japa on reverse lane as US releases names, photos of 112 Nigerians on deportation list
Oyo kidnap: Five defendants plead not guilty to seven count charges
Autopsy Confirms #EndSARS Journalist Pelumi Onifade Died From Gunshot Wound
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