…Pledges Intelligence-led Enforcement; Unit Recovered ₦3.19bn, Seized Goods Worth ₦13.07bn Under Aliyu
Retired Comptroller Gambo Aliyu, outgoing Controller of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘A’ of the Nigeria Customs Service, Ikeja, Lagos, on Wednesday formally handed over to Deputy Comptroller Oladapo Olukayode Afeni as its Acting Comptroller.
The ceremony, held at the unit’s conference hall, was attended by colleagues, friends and well-wishers of both officers, including Acting Customs Area Controllers of the Port and Terminal Multipurpose Limited (PTML), Ogun 1 Area Command, and the Enugu/Ebonyi/Anambra command, as well as other senior officers and stakeholders.
In his inaugural address, Afeni pledged “purposeful, professional and accountable leadership” and thanked the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, and the Service management for the confidence placed in him.
He said his administration would pursue intelligence-led enforcement, block revenue leakages, and protect Nigeria’s economic and security interests. Enforcement, he said, would be “firm, lawful and respectful of human dignity,” while legitimate trade would be facilitated through engagement with traders, manufacturers, importers, exporters, customs brokers and other stakeholders.
He also called for closer collaboration with sister security and law-enforcement agencies against trans-border crimes, including the illicit movement of drugs, arms, currencies, counterfeit goods and other prohibited items.
He promised attention to officers’ welfare, professional development, institutional discipline, and regular sporting activities.
In his handing-over address, Aliyu described the occasion as a formal transfer of leadership and reviewed the challenges of commanding the unit.
He said his tenure focused on combating smuggling, revenue fraud, concealment, under-declaration, false declaration and the movement of prohibited goods.
He reported the interception of 779 smuggling attempts. The seizures included more than 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, more than 3,000 jerrycans of Premium Motor Spirit (76,505 litres), and 22 elephant tusks weighing 130.84kg. The items had a total duty-paid value of ₦13,075,056,616.00.
On revenue, Aliyu said that between 10 December 2025 and 24 September 2026 the unit recovered ₦3,192,511,547.52 — 798 per cent of its ₦400 million annual target for 2026, and a 776 per cent rise on the ₦411,451,901.18 recovered in the same period in 2025. He credited enhanced risk profiling, stricter compliance checks, scrutiny of suspicious declarations, teamwork and collaboration with sister agencies, adding that “no enforcement agency can succeed in isolation.”
He congratulated his successor, said the unit was leaving a strong operational foundation, and urged him to “lead with fairness, firmness, courage and sound judgment.” He thanked officers for their loyalty and discipline, and prayed for the success of the new leadership and the continued growth of the Service.
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