The Kaduna division of the Court of Appeal has ruled that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) lacks the constitutional authority to confiscate imported rice from open markets.
This ruling came after the NCS appealed a judgment by the Federal High Court in Kaduna, which had discharged and acquitted Suleiman Mohammed, a businessman charged with the importation of foreign goods.
In a judgment delivered by a three-member panel led by Justice Ntong Ntong, the court also ordered the release of 613 bags of foreign rice, 80 bags of millet valued at approximately N200 million, and a truck previously seized from Mohammed along the Kaduna-Zaria Expressway.
The court clarified that the Kaduna-Zaria Expressway is not a land border and that the NCS had no right to arrest or confiscate goods on this route, which is outside the scope of the ban on the importation of foreign rice.
The court further ruled that the NCS has no authority to patrol highways, such as the Kaduna-Zaria Expressway, specifically for the purpose of seizing foreign rice, as these roads do not qualify as land borders under the law.
Justice Ntong explained that after reviewing the appeal records, the judgment of the trial court, and the relevant laws, he agreed with the initial ruling that the Kaduna-Zaria Expressway is not covered by the importation restrictions on foreign rice.
