The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has reaffirmed its leadership role in safeguarding Nigeria’s borders, announcing plans to deepen collaboration with the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) on intelligence sharing, trade facilitation and national security.
Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed the plans on Wednesday during a visit by NAQS Comptroller-General, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service, Vincent Isegbe, to the Customs headquarters in Maitama, Abuja.
Adeniyi said the Service was moving to harmonise inspection procedures across the country’s ports and border stations, a step he described as critical to promoting consistency, transparency and efficiency in cargo clearance nationwide.
He also revealed plans to establish a new Customs laboratory, with NAQS expected to provide technical support, and announced that Customs training facilities would be opened up to NAQS officers as part of a broader capacity-building push.
“We must expose our officers to the broader concept of national security. Border management goes beyond revenue collection,” Adeniyi said, stressing that Customs sees itself as the anchor institution coordinating Nigeria’s multi-agency border protection efforts.
The visit doubled as an opportunity for Isegbe to congratulate Adeniyi on the extension of his tenure as Chairperson of the World Customs Organisation Council, which he described as recognition of Adeniyi’s dedication and leadership.
Isegbe praised what he called an excellent working relationship with Customs, and outlined areas for closer partnership, including integrating NAQS into Customs’ B’Odogwu platform, joint enforcement operations, and coordinated efforts to detect fake certification and fraudulent documentation.
