Musa Kurra, the President of the Association of Licensed Auctioneers of Nigeria, says that the Nigerian Customs Service has been breaking the law and not being punished for it when it gets rid of seized items and containers.
According to Saturday Independent, Kurra was worried about what he called “the reckless disregard for due process” by Customs agents when they gave seized things directly to companies and people with political ties.
The President of the Auctioneers Association remarked this in light of leaked papers that showed the NCS giving some companies direct access to and sales of seized containers.
HH Hadison, the Comptroller of Special Duties, signed the allocation letters called “Direct Auction Allocation of Containers” between April and July 2025.
The Nigeria Customs Service Committee on Direct Disposal of General Goods sent letters to several private companies giving them permission to auction off 40-foot containers full of vehicles, prefabricated houses, construction slabs, tiles, hospital equipment, and boxes of goods. The auction fees ranged from N1 million to N2 million.
At least five such letters show a pattern of manual approvals that are said to be connected to people who work for the agency.
The format of each letter was the same. They all had the same signatory, HH Hadison, fwc, psc(+), Comptroller, Special Duties, and were written on Customs letterhead and watermarked with the word “RESTRICTED.”
One of the documents, dated July 31, 2025, and sent to a business with the number MSMU8098517, gave the go light for the release of four containers that were said to hold luxury cars, such as Lexus RX330s, Lexus ES330s, and a Toyota Highlander, at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos. The cars were sold at auction for a total of N2 million.
Another letter from June 15, 2025, gave the go-ahead to get rid of a container labeled TCKU0400440, which was called a “prefabricated house,” for N2m. A different letter from May 2025 gave a container of “construction slabs” to the same person under the same terms.
Two letters from April 11 and 17, 2025, respectively, gave various containers of “used hospital equipment,” “cartons of drinks,” “Versace bond cement,” “pallets of tiles,” and “packages of steel” to companies whose names were not given. Each company got between N1m and N2m.
Each of the approvals told the beneficiaries to pay within five business days and empty the containers within ten business days or risk losing them.
The letters further said that “transferred or sold to third parties shall be at the buyer’s risk.”
One of the letters, called “Direct auction allocation of containers,” said in part, “I am directed to inform you that the Comptroller-General of Customs has allocated the listed containers to your company.”
“This approval is in line with section 119 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, which allows for direct auction sale. The recipient will get the containers, but only if the following requirements are met. These conditions are meant to make sure that the direct auction allorati process is open and honest.
“Proof of payment of the Auction Fee and 7.5% VAT on the Auction Fee, which can be made at any bank that collects taxes.” In addition to the aforementioned, you must pay the following fees.
“Paying 25% of the auction fee, which are the terminal charges.” Paying 25% of the auction fee, which includes delivery costs.
“You must show proof of payment within five business days of receiving this auction allocation letter; otherwise, the allocation will be lost.” All containers that are thrown away must be taken away from the property within 10 business days after payment or the end of the time period. Also, you should keep the following in mind: Applications to replace allocated containers would not be considered.
“Any allocation letter that the allottee sells or gives to a third party is at the buyer’s risk.
“Please accept the Comptroller-General of Customs’s assurances of the highest esteem and respect.”
Kurra added that the pattern of N2m per container reflects a fixed-fee arrangement that doesn’t fit with the way legal auctions usually value items.
“I don’t understand why people don’t follow the law anymore. Kurra stated, “It’s better to imagine how the Service is doing things now without any consequences.” “I don’t get what kind of country we are.”
He said that the Bureau of Public Procurement is in charge of overseeing all procurement concerns since it was created by law. It is also in charge of overseeing auction proceedings because they involve public assets and money.
“You see, there is a group called the Bureau for Public Procurement. The BPP is the group that makes the rules for all things related to procurement. He answered, “An auction has to do with buying things.” The National Assembly passed BPP’s Act, and the President signed it into law.
Kurra also talked about the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act, which he said makes it explicit how any law enforcement body should handle and get rid of assets that have been seized or forfeited.
The Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act 2022 says that all assets that law enforcement agencies, including Customs, have confiscated or forfeited must be sold or auctioned off in a clear way, with the help of the right supervisory organizations. The Act says that confiscated items can’t be directly given or sold to people or groups outside of recognized channels. Anyone who breaks this law will face criminal penalties.
“The POCA Act takes care of everything that has to do with dealing with things that have been taken away.” He said that anything that comes from a crime must be appraised by a competent valuer before auctioneers can sell it. “But Customs has been breaking these rules without any guilt.”
He says that the Nigeria Customs Service’s so-called “direct auction allocations” are against the law and not supported by any law.
He said, “We don’t have any problems with them as long as they follow the rules.”
“But the problem is when they blatantly misuse powers that aren’t theirs.” They are doing something that is against the law in this country.
Kurra said that Customs personnel have been giving seized automobiles and containers to friends and businesses connected to high-ranking officials at prices that are too high.
He said, “Customs officers are giving out cars and taking things at lower prices without any publicized auctions.”
“At one point, the Service gave one company 380 cars for N3.8 million. Prados, Hiluxes, and Benzes were among of the cars, and each one cost N10,000. This is stealing.
He also mentioned another case in which 53 cars were supposedly given to one company for N530,000, which is around N10,000 per car.
Kurra said, “Even a bike can’t sell for N10,000 now, let alone a Prado or a Hilux.”
“When we looked into some of these deals, we found out that the companies involved are owned by Customs officers and their families.”
The head of the auctioneers asked the federal government to step in right away, saying that corruption and unlawful activities in the Customs Service are costing Nigeria a lot of money.
“If the government is serious, they need to checkmate these people,” he remarked.
“The president needs money to help the people, but instead of making it legally through Customs and other agencies, some people are getting rich.”
Kurra said that the way things are now, Customs is the one who seizes things, values them, and sells them at auction, which he called “lawless and self-serving.”
“When it comes to Customs, they take things, value them, and auction them off entirely on their own. So, who keeps an eye on them? He said, “Nobody.” “There is a law that tells them what to do, but they don’t follow it.” It’s time for the government to step in and bring back normality.
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