BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja
The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has strengthened its border security and intelligence capabilities by embracing the INTERPOL network, providing an opportunity for officers to access one of the world's largest criminal intelligence infrastructures.
Shortly after the installing of the INTERPOL Data Centre at its Headquarters in Abuja, the Comptroller-General of Customs, CGC, Adewale Adeniyi described the development as a major milestone in the Service's technology-driven transformation and intelligence-led enforcement strategy.
He said that Customs enforcement has evolved beyond conventional compliance, with technology now playing a central role in combating transnational crime, adding that the planned signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with INTERPOL would further deepen cooperation between both organisations.
The CGC highlighted the Service's indigenous B'Odogwu platform, which he linked as an innovative digital solution that can support trade facilitation in Nigeria and across other African Customs administrations.
INTERPOL’s Consultant, Chikwe Udensi said that the facility is the eighth INTERPOL Data Centre in Africa and provides Customs officers with access to more than 152 global criminal databases covering stolen vehicles, vessels, cargo, parcels, and other transported assets.
According to Udensi, the platform enables officers to instantly verify whether goods or transport assets have been reported stolen anywhere in the world, strengthening investigations, border security and revenue generation through real-time intelligence.
The Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs in-charge of Enforcement, Investigation and Inspection, Timi Bomodi hinted that officers have already been trained to operate the system, which has been fully integrated into the Service's ICT infrastructure.
He noted that the platform also enhances cargo profiling, valuation and risk assessment by providing accurate information on the description and origin of goods.
Committed to economic transformation, the NCS has been named one of Nigeria's top-performing government agencies in trade facilitation, according to the 2025 Business Facilitation Act, BFA, Compliance Assessment released by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, PEBEC.
PEBEC Director-General, Zahrah Audu said that NCS met all prescribed compliance standards and showed marked improvement in the speed and responsiveness of its trade-related services, ranking it among the highest-performing Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, evaluated.
"The Nigeria Customs Service stood out by meeting all the required standards while recording notable improvements in the timeliness and efficiency of its response to trade-related matters," Audu said, adding that the performance reflected a more transparent and business-friendly trading environment.
He credited the outcome to NCS's sustained focus on operational efficiency and stakeholder experience, calling it consistent with the Federal Government's Ease of Doing Business agenda.
She disclosed that 98 percent of the 69 MDAs assessed under the Business Facilitation Act are now meeting expected service delivery standards, a figure she cited as evidence that reforms under the Act are improving government service delivery nationwide.
The recognition follows several reforms that NCS recently rolled out to modernise its administration, including the B'Odogwu Unified Customs Management System, the Authorised Economic Operator, AEO, Programme, and the Advance Ruling System. The initiatives have simplified import and export procedures, cut cargo clearance delays, and improved transparency in customs operations.
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