By Sandra Chukwunyere
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Seme Area Command, has recorded a significant increase in revenue, generating ₦9.8 billion between March and May 2026. This represents a 448 percent rise compared to the same period in 2025.
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The Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Abdullahi Kaila, disclosed this on Monday during a media briefing at the command headquarters, where he presented the command’s operational performance since assuming duty in March 2026.
According to him, the command generated ₦9.798 billion within the period under review, an increase of ₦7.61 billion from the ₦2.188 billion collected in the corresponding period of 2025.
Kaila attributed the performance to improved compliance, strengthened stakeholder engagement, tighter anti-revenue leakage efforts, enhanced operational efficiency, and the deployment of the B’Odogwu Unified Customs Management System.
“This remarkable achievement is attributable to strengthened compliance mechanisms, improved stakeholder cooperation, intensified anti-revenue leakage measures, enhanced operational efficiency, and the strategic deployment of the B’Odogwu Unified Customs Management System,” he said.
He noted that intensified engagement with freight forwarders, importers, exporters, transport unions, and security agencies helped reduce bottlenecks and improve trade facilitation along the Lagos–Badagry–Seme corridor.
The command also said it has been supporting small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) through improved guidance on export documentation and regulatory compliance, in line with the Federal Government’s push for non-oil exports.
The command also intensified anti-smuggling operations across the Seme border during the period under review.
Officers intercepted 1,000 parcels of cannabis sativa, alongside unregistered pharmaceutical products, including codeine-based syrups and various sildenafil-based sexual enhancement drugs without regulatory approval.
Other items seized include 2,000 bags of foreign rice, 340 kegs of vegetable oil, 103 kegs of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), 993 cartons of spaghetti, and 250 bales of used clothing, with a total Duty Paid Value estimated at ₦501.85 million.
The intercepted narcotics and pharmaceutical products are expected to be handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for further investigation and regulatory action.
Kaila warned that the Seme border would not serve as a safe route for smugglers, stressing that intelligence-led operations and surveillance have been strengthened across both land and maritime routes.
He reaffirmed the command’s commitment to balancing revenue generation, trade facilitation, and border security in line with the reform agenda of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi.
