NAGAFF backs Customs on collection of duties on old vehicles (Read full details)

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The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) on Monday said it supported the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on the enforcement of duties on uncustomised old vehicles.

Mr Stanley Ezenga, National Publicity Secretary of NAGAFF, disclosed the association’s position in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Ezenga said the association was surprised by the growing opposition to the enforcement aimed at discouraging smuggling and boosting government`s revenue.

Ezenga said non-payment of duties on imported vehicles, whether new or old, was an act of economic sabotage and advised defaulters to comply with Customs’ directive and pay their duties.

He said the NSC had given the enforcement a human face with the rebate offered and the time frame for compliance.

“We at NAGAFF do not see anything wrong in the decision of the Customs to collect duties on imported vehicles that are not customised.

“Remember these vehicles were smuggled in the first place and it is within the mandate of the Customs to collect duties on them even when such are kept in warehouses or even in people`s bedrooms.

“So, there is nothing draconian or bad in this step; it is like asking people to pay their taxes and distraining companies that are not complying. We think that is the law.

“This step is about helping the economy. I think the 60 per cent rebate and the collection deadline is humane enough. I think it is a step in the right direction,“he said.

Ezenga urged all Nigerians to support the NCS in its efforts at entrenching transparency in the maritime sector and generating revenue for the country.

NAN reports that the Senate and the Nigeria Labour Congress had criticised the NCS on the enforcement of the duties.

They described the action as unjustifiable and capable of inflicting hardship on the people.
Mr Joseph Attah, the Public Relations Officer of NCS, on Wednesday, said that the NCS would still go ahead with the collection of the duties in spite of criticism in some quarters.

He advised owners of vehicles imported into the country from 2015 to pay the duties between March 13 and April 12 or the vehicles would be impounded.

Attah said that 60 per cent rebate had been granted across board on such vehicles and more payment points had been opened to ease the process.

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Thousands march in Moscow two years after Putin foe killed…Read full details

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Russian opposition leader and chairman of the People's Freedom Party (PARNAS) Mikhail Kasyanov (C) and supporters of slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov hold flags and banners during a memorial march on February 26, 2017 in central Moscow, two years after Nemtsov was gunned down just yards from the Kremlin. Kasyanov has his face covered with green paint after he was attacked before the start of the procession. Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister in the government of Boris Yeltsin, was gunned down shortly before midnight on February 27, 2015, while walking across a bridge a short distance from the Kremlin with his Ukrainian model girlfriend.<br />VASILY MAXIMOV / AFP

Thousands of Russians marched through central Moscow on Sunday in memory of slain opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, two years after he was shot dead near the Kremlin.

The assassination of the former deputy prime minister on February 27, 2015 was the highest-profile killing of a critic of President Vladimir Putin since the ex-KGB officer took charge in 2000.

Five Chechen men from Russia’s volatile North Caucasus are currently on trial for carrying out a contract hit, but those who ordered the killing have not been brought to justice.

“We came to pay tribute to the honesty and bravery of Boris Nemtsov,” pensioner Galina Zolina told AFP, clutching a bunch of red carnations.

“We want to show the authorities that we haven’t forgotten.”

Charismatic Nemtsov — who went from Kremlin insider under Boris Yeltsin to one of Putin’s fiercest foes — was hit in the back by four fatal shots as he walked home across a bridge by the Kremlin with his girlfriend.

The march Sunday was permitted by the authorities but not allowed to include a makeshift memorial officials have repeatedly sought to dismantle at the spot Nemstov was killed.

Some 15,000 demonstrators, organisers and AFP estimated, surrounded by a heavy police presence waved Russian flags and posters criticising the Kremlin and Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine, which Nemtsov had fiercely opposed right up to his death.

“The march can maybe get the attention of the authorities,” said unemployed biologist Alexei Kuznetsov.

“It might be able to influence the investigation, show that the case resonates in society even if the authorities try to ignore it.”

– Masterminds untouched –
Last October five men — including a member of an elite interior ministry unit in Chechnya — went on trial in a military court in Moscow for carrying out the contract killing for 15 million rubles (currently $250,000, 240,000 euros).

But despite claims from officials that the case has been solved Nemtsov’s family and allies insist that the probe into his death has left the masterminds untouched.

They insist he was killed to stop his political activities and the murder trail leads to those close to Chechnya’s Kremlin-loyal strongman Ramzan Kadyrov.

“The investigation stopped at the level of those who carried out the murder but nothing has been done to find those who ordered it,” Vadim Prokhorov, the lawyer for Nemtsov’s family, told AFP.

Nemtsov’s slaying sent a chill through Russia’s marginalised opposition, which has already been sidelined under Putin’s authoritarian rule.

The march — which was accompanied by events in other Russian cities — came as authorities released prominent activist Ildar Dadin from jail in Siberia.

Dadin, who spent 15 months behind bars, was the only person to be convicted under a controversial law against public protests that has helped snuff out demonstrations against the Kremlin.

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‘I’m a clean athlete’ insists Mo Farah…See full details

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(FILES) This file photo taken on August 21, 2016 shows gold medallist Britain's Mo Farah celebrating near the podium for the Men's 5000m during the athletics event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 20, 2016. Britain's four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah on February 26, 2017 insisted he was "a clean athlete" after a leaked United States Anti-Doping Agency report suggested that his coach had "almost certainly" broken anti-doping rules.<br />Eric FEFERBERG / AFP

Britain’s four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah on Sunday insisted he was “a clean athlete” after a leaked United States Anti-Doping Agency report suggested that his coach had “almost certainly” broken anti-doping rules.

“I am a clean athlete who has never broken the rules in regards to substances, methods or dosages and it is upsetting that some parts of the media, despite the clear facts, continue to try to associate me with allegations of drug misuse,” Farah said in a statement.

“As I’ve said many times before we all should do everything we can to have a clean sport and it is entirely right that anyone who breaks the rules should be punished.”

The USADA on Saturday confirmed it had compiled a dossier on controversial coach Alberto Salazar following a report accusing the athletics guru of dangerously using drugs to boost the performance of his athletes.

Britain’s Sunday Times said a USADA report — obtained by the Fancy Bears hacking group — had found Salazar abused prescription drugs and experimented with infusions of a research supplement based on the amino acid L-carnitine at his Oregon base.

The newspaper said it had seen documents showing Salazar gave intravenous drip infusions to Farah and to half a dozen top US runners and that USADA had concluded the treatments of the Americans “almost certainly” broke anti-doping rules.

Farah said it was “unclear as to the Sunday Times’s motivations towards me” and that it was “entirely unfair to make assertions when it is clear from their own statements that I have done nothing wrong.”

“If USADA or any other Anti-Doping Body has evidence of wrongdoing they should publish it and take action rather than allow the media to be judge and jury,” added the athlete, who won both the 5,000m and 10,000m in the London and Rio games.

USADA said Saturday that no conclusion had been reached.

“USADA can confirm that it has prepared a report in response to a subpoena from a state medical licensing body regarding care given by a physician to athletes associated with the Nike Oregon Project,” USADA said in a statement.

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Basket mouth hints on Chris Rock, to visit Nigeria…Read full details

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Ace comedian Basket mouth real name, Bright Okpocha, on Friday gave a hint on plans to invite Chris Rock, Top American comedian for a performance scheduled for June in Lagos.

Basket mouth on his Intagram handle @basketmouth said, “If Chris Rock was coming to Lagos in June 2017… would you pay N10,000 for a regular ticket?”

The hint has already generated divergent reactions from his fans.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Rock is also an, actor, writer, producer, and director.

After working as a stand-up comic and appearing in small film roles, Rock came to wider prominence as a cast member of Saturday Night Live in the early 1990s.

He recently released a romance/comedy movie titled, “Top 5’’, featuring actors including Gabrielle Union, Kevin Hart, Rosario Dawson and Cedric the entertainer.

He is currently in a relationship with Nigeria-born Megalyn Echikunwoke, an actress.

Meanwhile, Basketmouth’s Lord of The Ribs US tour with Bovi is slated for July 2017.

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