The officers of the Agency working in the seaports are charged with the following responsibilities.
Prevention and detection of offences in violation of the provision of the NDLEA Act.
Working in collaboration with Nigeria Customs Services in monitoring the movement of goods and persons in any customs area; custom station or customs ports and searching cargoes; incoming and outgoing vessels, including pleasure craft and fishing vessels as well as searching crew members, passengers and their baggage.
Detecting consignments suspected of containing narcotic drugs and psychotropic substance coming into or out of a customs area, customs station and customs port.
Maintaining surveillance in harbour and dock areas.
Investigating assets and properties of persons arrested for committing any offence under this Act.
Identifying and tracing proceeds involved in any offence under this act and effecting forfeiture of such proceeds; and
Dealing with matters connected with extradition and mutual assistance in criminal matters.
NDLEA Act Cap N30 LFN section 4 (1) stipulates that:
Any officer of the Agency involved in the enforcement of the provisions of this Act,
May without warrant enter and search any carrier including vessel or container or any other instrumentalities whatsoever which he has reason to believe is connected with the commission of an offence under this Act.
May perform test and take samples of any substances relating to the commission of an offence which are found on the carrier including vessel or containers or any other instrumentalities whatsoever searched pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection.
Arrest any person whom he has reason to believe has committed an offence under this Act. iv. Seize any item or substance which he has reason to believe has been used in the commission of an offence under this Act.
Where NDLEA designated Officers have reason to believe that a Vessel calling at Nigerian Ports is connected with the commission of an offence under the NDLEA Act, such designated officers shall be part of the Joint Ship Boarding Team coordinated by the NPA and regulated as specified in the NPA Standard Boarding Procedure.
Boarding officers are responsible for searching of the following incoming and outgoing vessels; Container vessel, bulk cargo vessel, tanker vessel, Yatch, and Cruise ships, etc. In performing this,
The boarding advice will be submitted to the command office by the shipping Agency at least 24 hrs before arrival of the vessel.
At the arrival of the vessel, the Port Health Authorities board and clear it before other agencies perform their duties.
Boarding officers come on board and are received by the ship agent.
Officers are properly identified and documented by a member of the crew before going into the vessel.
The ship agent will take the officers to the captain of the ship.
The captain will give officers the following documents: Port(s) of call list, nil list, medical list of medicine in the hospital and narcotic list in the captain’s cabin for inspection and search purpose, as well as containers list as the case may be.
Officers may search any part of the vessel including crew cabin and hospital and screen the narcotic register to verify the quantity and expiry date on the items found including new stock and how they are being dispensed.
In carrying out search of the vessel, the shipping agent and one or two crew members must accompany the officers.
All narcotic and controlled drugs are expected to be in the custody of the Captain. And he must keep proper record of them.
No expired drug is allowed on board. However, if there is any, it must be properly documented in a list stating out the name, date of manufacture, date of expiration and quantity, packed in a container and labeled Expired’. The expired drug should be handed over to the NDLEA boarding officers who will stamp and sign on the duplicate copy of the list prepared paper by the captain, who will also countersign before handing over the expired drug to the Agency.
At the end of search/inspection, if nothing incriminating was found, NDLEA clearance duly stamped and signed by both the officer in charge of boarding and the captain is issued to the captain.
If any incriminating item is found, the item will be removed in the presence of the agent and the captain for further investigation.
If the captain refuses to cooperate with the boarding officer, then he will be sanctioned in line with NDLEA ACT.
For boarding & rummaging of outgoing vessels, the same procedures for boarding and rummaging of incoming vessels with relation to NDLEA operations apply.
In order to discharge this responsibility, the Exporter or his representative is required to submit an application for export to the appropriate seaport command stating the products, address of the Exporter, the address of the Clearing and Forwarding Agency, place of stuffing, date of stuffing, and destination of the consignment
If the stuffing is outside the port and it’s environ:
The NDLEA Port Commander will liaise with the State Commander in whose State the stuffing will take place to send officers from his/her command to witness the stuffing, with other relevant Government Agencies.
After stuffing, the container is sealed and a written clearance addressed to the NDLEA Port Commander is issued to the Agent by the State Commander indicating the seal number and other necessary details.
At the Port, the Agent will submit the clearance collected from the State command to the Port command office where the final clearance paper is issued.
If the Stuffing is within the port facilities/Area:
NDLEA staff and staff from other relevant Government Agencies will jointly witness the stuffing and thereafter NDLEA Clearance is issued to the Exporter or his Agent.
If it is a bulk cargo i.e. non containerized cargo, an Agency staff along with other Sister Agencies will physically monitor the loading of the vessel. At the end of the loading, Export clearance is issued to the Agent by the Command.
Stuffing without notification
The containers will be subjected to thorough examination by the Agency and all other sister organizations in the presence of the Export Agent at an approved place.
If nothing incriminating is found, Export clearance is issued by the command to the Exporter or his/her Agent.
If exhibit or suspected/incriminating item is found, the item will be removed by the officer for further investigation, while such container will be impounded.
The Shipping Agency shall always submit its cargo manifest to the
Agency Command Office in the port before the arrival of the vessel
(See Section 25 (2) c of NDLEA Act). Cap N30
Although all consignments are of interest to the Agency, some that
are considered high risk are placed under watch list to ensure that
they are properly examined before leaving the terminal
The list of containers to be examined each day should be submitted
to the Agency staff in the various terminals by the terminal operators
24 hours before such examination take place.
Containers are jointly examined at the terminal by all relevant
The following documents are required from the importer or his Agent during examination of containers.
Bill of Lading
Packing List
Customs Papers where necessary
NAFDAC permit to import and Certificate of analysis for Precursor Chemicals and Controlled Pharmaceutical items.
End user Certificate for Armoured vehicles, arms and ammunition and other security equipments issued by the National Security Advisers shall be presented by the Importer or Agent during examination, while photocopy should be submitted alongside with other aforementioned documents by the agent to NDLEA Terminal Officer before such vehicles can be released.
International Passport of the importer shall be presented for clearance of Personal Effect during examination.
They are to provide a furnished office accommodation for the Agency Staff to perform their duties and responsibilities.
They are to submit the list of containers to be examined each day 24 hours before the examination takes place.
They should not tamper with the verifiable seals on the containers.
They are to comply with any lawful enquiry or request made by any authorized officer of the Agency in accordance with the provision of NDLEA Act.
They are to cooperate with the Agency staff in the discharge of their duties at any time and should not hinder, interfere or obstruct the staff in the exercise of such duties within their facilities.
Shipping Agencies: For Shipping Agents
They shall submit their cargo manifest in advance to the Agency Command Office in the port. (See Section 25 (2) c of NDLEA Act).
Each Shipping Agency should use tamper – resistant verifiable seals on their containers (see section 25 (2) d
They are to honor request bordering on stoppage of release of container for investigation purpose.
They are to take reasonable precautionary measures to ensure that their means of transportation are not used in aiding or committing crime as stated in section 25 (1)a of NDLEA Act.
They should not allow any unauthorized cargo in their means of transportation. (No cargo meant for Export should be accepted without Clearance from the Agency). (See section 25 (1) b
The Clearing Agents should be available at the terminal for joint examination when their containers are positioned.
They shall bring all necessary documents including the Bill of Lading during examination and make copies available to the NDLEA officer at the examination bay.
They shall be responsible for repositioning of their containers for examination when necessary.
They should present their joint examination form for endorsement immediately after examination of every container or cargo.
