New Customs CAC vows intelligence-led enforcement, revenue recovery

The 30th acting Customs Area Controller in charge of the Federal Operations Unit, Zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service, Oladapo Afeni.

The 30th acting Customs Area Controller in charge of the Federal Operations Unit, Zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service, Oladapo Afeni, has said that his administration would pursue intelligence-led enforcement, block revenue leakages and protect Nigeria’s economic  and security interests.

Afeni stated this recently at the command in Ikeja when he assumed duty as the 30th Acting CAC of the unit, following the retirement of the immediate past CAC of the unit, Gambo Aliyu, after a distinguished tenure.

The event brought together friends, colleagues and well-wishers of both the incoming and outgoing comptrollers, as well as other senior officers and stakeholders.

In his inaugural address, Deputy Comptroller Afeni pledged purposeful, professional and accountable leadership in furtherance of the mandate of the Nigeria Customs Service.

The acting CAC said his administration would pursue “intelligence-led enforcement, block revenue leakages, and protect Nigeria’s economic and security interests.”

He expressed appreciation for the confidence reposed in him by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, and the service’s management team.

Afeni emphasised that enforcement activities would be firm, lawful and respectful of human dignity, while legitimate trade would be facilitated through constructive engagement with traders, manufacturers, importers, exporters, customs brokers and other stakeholders.

The CAC also called for stronger collaboration with sister security and law-enforcement agencies to combat trans-border crimes, including the illicit movement of drugs, arms, currencies, counterfeit goods and other prohibited items.

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He pledged attention to officers’ welfare, professional development, institutional discipline and regular sporting activities to promote fitness, teamwork and work-life balance.

In his handing-over address, the immediate past Comptroller of the unit, Gambo Aliyu, expressed gratitude and humility, marking the occasion as a formal transfer of leadership while reflecting on the responsibilities and challenges of commanding the unit.

Aliyu noted that his administration focused on combating smuggling, revenue fraud, concealment, under-declaration, false declaration, and the movement of prohibited goods.

Highlighting major operational successes during his tenure, Aliyu reported the interception of 779 smuggling attempts involving items such as “over 20,900 bags of foreign parboiled rice, 61 used vehicles, thousands of used compressors and clothing items, foreign poultry products, 4,418 jerrycans of vegetable oil, 12,606 parcels of cannabis weighing 6,194.3kg, 2.30kg of cocaine, over 3,000 jerrycans of Premium Motor Spirit (76,505 litres), 22 elephant tusks weighing 130.84kg. These and other seizures had a total duty-paid value of N13.07bn.”

Aliyu reported remarkable performance between December 2025 and September 2026, adding that the unit recovered N3.192bn, representing 798 per cent of its N400m annual target for 2026 and a 776 per cent increase over the N411m recovered in the same period in 2025.

He attributed these achievements to enhanced risk profiling, “stricter compliance checks, targeted introspection into suspicious declarations, teamwork, professionalism and collaboration with sister agencies and stakeholders.”

Aliyu stressed that no enforcement agency can succeed in isolation. He welcomed and congratulated his successor, assuring him of a strong operational foundation and charging him to “lead with fairness, firmness, courage and sound judgment.”

Aliyu thanked the officers for their loyalty, discipline and resilience, and prayed for the success of the new leadership, the continued growth of the Nigeria Customs Service and the security of Nigeria.