By Oluwakemi Dauda,The Nation

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The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Apapa Port Command, will soon start to examine 200 containers per hour, following the expected arrival of three brand new scanners at the port.

The plan was disclosed in Lagos yesterday, by its Area Controller, Comptroller Oluwadare Oshoba

Oshoba therefore, urged stakeholders and port users to brace up for more seamless trade process.

Speaking after inspecting the location for the installation of the three new scanners at the Apapa port, Oshoba disclosed that the Command is ready to surpass expectations as no consignment will escape high-tech-driven, non-intrusive inspection as the scanners would be strategically positioned close to the berthing area.

While describing the quay side location of the scanners as a masterstroke, he commended the Comptroller of the Service, Adewale Adeniyi for his relentless commitment to modernisation while also urging officers to prepare for intensive train-the-trainer sessions, as the next phase after installation.

Oshoba also advised the ICT officers to improve on capacity building for tier one and tier two levels of maintenance of the scanners, which are first of its kind in the West and Central Africa subregion

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He described the feat as a great milestone about to happen and advised port users, especially importers, exporters and their agents to uphold the tenet of sincere declaration as all false declarations and concealment would be exposed by the technology.

According to him, ”I want to on behalf of our officers and men, thank the CGC for leading us through an era of revolutionary customs modernisation. The coming of these scanners is one of the many great fruits we shall be harvesting from the modernisation project

“Our partners, the Trade Modernisation Project (TMP), have assured us that the installation would last for 45 days, and we are expecting two units of scanners from them with an additional one from APM Terminals. These three scanners would ensure that there is no downtime for cargo examination here and reinforce our position as the number one destination for port activities in Nigeria

“All hands must be on deck to see to the full realisation of this dream which would save time, increase revenue, enhance national security, promote trade and prevent port related crimes from the earliest point of entry” The CAC said.

Also speaking on the development, the TMP Team Leader, Aliyu Suleiman, gave details on the scanners produced by Nuctech in China.

He described them as the NUCTECH FS6000 with a high-throughput, non-intrusive, drive-through X-ray inspection system for cargo and vehicles.

He added that the scanners use high-penetration dual-energy X-ray transmission technology to inspect trucks and containers in one pass at speeds up to 15 km/h, allowing for non-stop inspection at busy locations like ports and border crossings.

According to the expert, the system provides detailed images that help identify concealed contraband and dangerous materials, and its compact, modular design allows for easy relocation and integration with other systems like License Plate Recognition (LPR) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

In addition to the three fixed scanners about being installed, APM Terminals has also promised to provide a mobile scanner to serve as support in the event of unexpected downtime.