Exclusive: How Nigeria Customs Sold Medical Aid Donated By U.S. To IDPs

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has sold a container of hospital equipment donated from the United States for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) despite payment of all necessary duties, documents obtained by THE WHISTLER have shown.

The consignment arrived in Nigeria on January 8, 2021, for Mashiah Care Initiative for children in IDP camps in Plateau State. The state has been under serious attacks from terrorists and bandits, with women and children the most affected.

About 64 communities have been taken over by terrorists and bandits in the state, according to Governor Caleb Mutfwang. This has displaced close to a million people, mostly women and children, with many men killed.

Tens of thousands of villagers have also been injured, requiring medical care.

The equipment was meant to be deployed by Mashiah Care Initiative to cater for displaced children. That was never to be, as the container was auctioned despite enduring four years of bureaucratic delays by Customs over its release.

The exact date the consignment was auctioned remains unknown. Attempts to ascertain the date were unsuccessful, as the Customs spokesperson at Tin Can Island, Oscar Ivara, said he took over the position in 2025, when the controversy was already ongoing.

However, documents and payment receipts shared with THE WHISTLER show that Customs remained actively engaged with Mashiah from 2021 to December 2023, requesting documents, payments, and inspections, yet the container was never released.

It was eventually logged out of the NCS system on December 13, 2024.

The documents and payment receipts show that the container’s contents were donated by SOS International Inc., based in Kentucky, United States, and were intended for Mashiah Care Initiative’s children’s hospital.

The hospital targeted displaced children, who it said were most vulnerable.

However, since the items were sent from the U.S. in 2020 and arrived in Nigeria in January 2021, they have yet to reach their intended end users. Instead, they were stalled at the Tin Can Island Port, Lagos, for about four years.

Customs officials reportedly reclassified them as “overtime cargo” and auctioned them without the organisation’s consent.

Officials and experts with many years of experience in the sector explained that a container cannot be legally auctioned without the knowledge of the owner.

A legitimate process starts with placing overtime cargo under seizure. Then Section 151(1) of the Customs and Excise Management Act, which requires the owner to be notified of the status of the goods under seizure, applies.

“Notice of the seizure of any goods shall be given to the owner of the goods, if known, by delivering to him a notice in writing of the grounds of such seizure,” the provision reads.

Before contemplating an auction, Customs would first communicate the new charges that the perceived abandonment of the cargo has attracted and request the owner to pay.

However, the Executive Director of Mashiah Care Initiative, Bayo Oyebade, lamented that during his years of communication with Customs over the container, neither he nor his agent was informed of any steps taken preceding the auction.

“Neither my agent nor I was ever served any seizure notice, fresh charges, public notice, or auction notice by Customs. We only discovered the container had been seized when we kept pressing for its release, even after paying all the required fees,” Mr Oyebade said.

Mr Oyebade, based in Jos, Plateau State, said he could not tell the exact date of the auction because there was no communication. However, the container was logged out of the NCS system on December 13, 2024.

He said he has continued to press Customs since then with no closure.

What shocked Mr Oyebade was that NCS remained engaged with him from 2021 through December 2023, repeatedly requesting documents, payments, and inspections, yet the container was never released.

This uncertainty, he said, “continues to this day because all along they made me believe the items were still with them.”

‘We Have Wronged You’

On April 15, 2025, Mr Oyebade said he received a call from Oscar Ivara, the Tin Can Island Port Command spokesperson, inviting him to a meeting regarding the import issue.
At the scheduled meeting on May 28, a senior public relations officer, N.N. Okwara, standing in for the absent Mr Ivara, admitted Customs’ error.

“We have wronged you by withholding this container despite all dues being paid,” she was quoted as saying.

She explained during the meeting that although Mashiah Care Initiative had met all legal requirements, the auction winner had already completed clearance for the container. However, the container remains at the terminal.

“You need to negotiate with the auction buyer since the container is still with us. The money he paid to the terminal is not going to Customs or any officer; it is purely a procedural matter,” she added, urging Mr Oyebade to locate the buyer.

Failed Negotiations

On June 20, there was another meeting at the Nigeria Customs Police Office at Tin Can Port, presided over by the officer in charge, Mr Ibraimoh. Following prior advice, he counselled Mr Oyebade to negotiate directly with the auction buyer, identified as Soyoye Fatai.
Mr Oyebade later contacted Mr Fatai, but the two could not reach an agreement.

Mr Fatai could not be reached for comment, but Mr Oyebade described the situation as “frustrating” and “untenable,” emphasising that the donated hospital equipment — including beds, chairs, and medical supplies — was intended for children and vulnerable communities.

“We are frustrated. The negotiations have stalled because the buyer refuses to budge,” Mr Oyebade told THE WHISTLER.

THE WHISTLER confirmed that the container is still at the Tin Can Island Port terminal, even though Mr Fatai is legally recognised as its owner under Customs law.

‘It’s self-use and not for resale’

A letter dated October 15, 2020, from the U.S.-based donor, SOS Health and Hope, shared the motivation behind the donation, details of the items, and how they should be used.

The letter seen by THE WHISTLER conveyed a Certificate of Free Sale or Exporting Certificate for the items.

Cody Moran, Global Health Programme Manager, who signed the document, wrote that the shipment included “medical equipment that has been tested and shown to be in proper working order.”

“These items are second-hand, used materials and objects that have been inspected and verified to function correctly.”

It said the shipment was “sent through SOS as a free gift and donation to the people of Nigeria.”

The gifts came with conditions spelt out in the letter: that the “contents are for self-use by the Mashiah Foundation.”

“The items are NOT for resale,” it added.

Background

The container, numbered NYKU4044726, arrived at Tin Can Island Port on January 8, 2021, according to import documents reviewed by THE WHISTLER. An inspection was carried out upon its arrival. Despite paying the first duty on January 27, 2021, Mashiah Care Initiative was informed by Customs that no agent had appeared on its behalf.

Subsequently, the organisation was instructed to obtain an Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC), which it submitted on June 28, 2021, and which was formally accepted by Customs.

Following this, a second duty payment of N33,307 was made on November 1, 2021, primarily covering the Toyota Yaris car, while the IDEC covered the hospital equipment.

A re-inspection of the container was carried out on January 17, 2022. Despite these steps, none of the items — neither the car nor the hospital equipment — were released, undermining Customs’ justification for classifying the shipment as “overtime cargo.”

Documents shared with THE WHISTLER show that the payments were made through Mashiah Care Initiative’s clearing agent, DEFOVICH Global Limited. The first payment of N1,040,884, made on January 27, 2021, via Guaranty Trust Bank, included N100,902 for the Comprehensive Inspection Supervision Scheme (CIS), N757,908 as import duty, N35,054 in surcharge, N146,237 as Value Added Tax (VAT), and ₦368,685 for the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS).

The second payment of N33,307, made on December 17, 2021, included N4,864 for CIS, N24,308 as import duty, N1,703 in surcharge, and N2,432 for ETLS. Together, these payments total N1,074,191 in documented duties and charges.

“Despite inspections confirming the contents — hospital equipment, chairs, beds, and a Toyota Yaris car — we paid all duties, yet the container was never released,” Mr Oyebade said.

He added that subsequent checks with Customs offices in Jos and Abuja confirmed that all legal procedures had been completed, but the container remained withheld.

According to Mr Oyebade, Mashiah Care Initiative’s agents — DEFOVICH Global Limited and Jaicey Don Nigeria Limited — continued monthly visits to the NCS office at Tin Can Island to follow up on the release.

On December 15, 2023, Customs instructed the organisation to proceed, yet the container was still not released. It was eventually logged out of the NCS system on December 13, 2024, by which time no formal communication about the auction had been provided.

Before the container was logged out, the organisation, through its lawyers, Kapil Attorneys, wrote on July 10, 2024, to the Comptroller-General of Customs in Abuja via DHL Express, demanding the immediate release of the shipment.

The copy of the letter seen by THE WHISTLER bore no acknowledgement stamp, as it was sent via courier. Mr Oyebade said he believed the letter prompted the call he received nine months later inviting him to a meeting at Tin Can Port in Lagos.

Customs React

When contacted on August 25, Mr Ivara said he only assumed duty in January and was not at the command when the matter began.
He explained that although Mashiah Care Initiative paid the first duty on January 27, 2021, the group did not obtain the required Import Duty Exemption Certificate until June 28, 2021 — beyond the 30-day window allowed after inspection.

He said this lapse caused Customs to classify the consignment as overtime cargo and auction it around that period. He added that he had taken steps towards an amicable resolution but acknowledged that he had lost track of the controversy.

Appeal For Intervention

Mashiah Care Initiative has appealed to the NCS hierarchy, the Comptroller-General, and President Bola Tinubu to intervene, stressing that all legal requirements were satisfied years earlier.

“Our organisation has been deprived of critical medical supplies for over five years despite following due process and paying every required fee,” Mr Oyebade insisted. “We are appealing for urgent intervention.”