Customs Faces Lawsuit For Publishing Details of Air Passenger’s International Passport On-Line

A woman has threatened to sue the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) for publishing her passport details in national newspapers after she posted on Facebook how its officers had seized her bag and a pair of shoes brought into the country through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

Mrs. Adaeze Udenzi Nwagboliwe decried how her passport details were published by the National Public Relations Officer of NCS, DC Joseph Attah, after she was forced to pay N151, 165. 62 for her personal effects seized as she arrived from London on a British Airways flight BA083 at about 4:30 am on October 18.

In a bid to justify the actions of its officers, Attah had claimed in a statement that Mrs. Nwagboliwe had refused to pay customs duty on the mini-boy bag and a pair of Sneakers bought at the duty-free shop in Heathrow, which the customs officers had considered as luxury and dutiable.

The Customs spokesman insisted that the Louis Vuitton bag and shoe were luxury items that must attract duty. He said that duty must be paid on items valued above N50, 000.

Mrs. Nwagboliwe said, “I paid N151, 165. 62 eventually. The PRO agreed that they ought to have given me credit for the N50, 000 that was allowed. This proved my allegation that there was malice in the way I was treated.”

Mrs. Nwagboliwe added that she would sue the NCS for publishing her passport number to the general public after seeking legal counsel.

“My passport could be cloned and used for all kinds of things. This has to be addressed,” she said.

Attah’s statement published in National newspapers reads in part: “The attention of the Nigeria Customs Service has been drawn to a misleading narrative by one Mrs. Udensi Adaeze Nwagboliwe whose claim of being ill-treated at the airport on the bases of her gender, tribe or where she comes from is going viral on the social media.

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