Customs Threatened to Seal Intercontinental Hotel

Following the duel between the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, and major rice investors in the country has taken a new turn, as the NCS has threatened to close down one of Nigeria’s foremost hotels, Intercontinental Hotel Lagos.

The NCS has threatened that it may shut down the Intercontinental Hotel, following the non-payment of retrospective duties by the hotel’s parent company, Milan Group.

This was disclosed thursday by Wale Adeniyi, Public Relations Officer of NCS. The service had shut down the Lagos warehouses of a number of rice importers this week over non-payment of duties on rice imports that had exceeded their quotas.

Some of the major importers affected by the clampdown include Olam, Milan Group and Stallion Group – all owned by Asian nationals with vast investments in Nigeria.

However, according to some rice investors, apart from Intercontinental Hotel, NCS’ actions and threats included closure of several unrelated industries promoted by the rice investors including factories that partner global multinationals and are driving industrial growth and employment.