INTERVIEW: I Feared Aliyu Could Be Killed While Working Under Me at Apapa Port – Retired ACG Edike
For his no-nonsense stance, zero compromise and firm prevention of revenue loss as a Chief Superintendent of Customs in 2014, outgoing Controller of Customs in charge of Federal Operations Unit Zone A, Gambo Aliyu, faced threats to his life as an enforcement officer working under the then Comptroller Charles Edike.
Edike, who retired as an Assistant Comptroller General of Customs , described Aliyu as one of his finest, most resilient and unperturbed officers — a man who stood his ground for what was right and lawful.
Edike spoke to Ismail Aniemu in Lagos.
Excerpt
JournalNG is doing a special report on Controller Gambo Aliyu, who is retiring from the Nigerian Customs Service. Give us your assessment of him when he worked under you as a junior officer in Apapa Command.
Yeah, thank you, Aniemu. Of course, my name is Eporwei Charles Edike, ACG retired. Aliyu worked with me in Apapa. Then I was Customs Area Controller, Apapa Ports, and Aliyu was a Chief Superintendent.
Initially, I didn’t know him, and he didn’t come looking for me for anything, but I heard about him, and so his work brought him to me. I got to know that he was very strict and understood the job. He knows the processes, procedures and the tariff, and so he was a very fine officer.
Then he was always issuing demand notices, and many people didn’t like him for that at all. And of course, then he was in enforcement. And they organised many staff orders (transfers) against him.
In all of these, I got annoyed and worried. I immediately made a letter to the Comptroller-General of Customs, then later CGC Dikko. I forwarded all the DNs that Aliyu raised, and a letter to him. The letter got to Abuja, but along the line some people intercepted the letter. So when I heard, I wrote again. Later it got to Abuja; they held it again. They didn’t allow it to get to the Comptroller-General.
So I then wrote a third one. This time I sent it to the CGC’s Secretary to please print it and give it to the CGC directly. That one now got to the CGC.
Immediately, the then CGC reversed the staff order. So he came, so he returned, and then they were working. After a while again, they did it again, and I wrote again. And so I wrote again and again; they heard it again, so I now again sent it to the CG’s Secretary, then it was cancelled again.
And in each of these letters, I would write and write and write because I knew who he is. I knew his strength. I knew the kind of officer that we have in him. Such officers are rare to come by, so I didn’t want to let him leave. And more so, when it was like a punishment for doing his duties diligently.
How did he get posted out?
At some point, I went on leave, because I always take my annual leave. Before I returned, they got him posted to Enugu. So I said to myself, it’s dangerous to bring this officer back. Bringing him back will expose him to danger from those planning to get him out of the ports, and they could hurt him or even get him killed. I concluded it was best to let him be there, in his own interest.
Today, I tell myself that it would have been better if I had influenced his posting to an area under Zone A, where he would have been more beneficial to the Service and Nigeria.
How would you appraise his performance as a senior officer compared with when he worked under you 12 years ago?
When I even got to know that he was in Tin Can as a DC Enforcement, I loved it and I praised the CAC for recognising that in him. And of course, that brought a lot of value to the CAC in TCIP, because he made so many seizures. As Controller FOU Zone A, he seized 23,000 bags of rice, and even arms and ammunition that the CGC himself had to come to inspect.
His strength started manifesting at a senior level from Tin Can Island Port. Aliyu was mentoring junior officers who worked under him. He would teach them what to do under any circumstance, how to handle issues professionally, manage public perception, and all of that.
At FOU, he recovered about ₦3.8bn in revenue within nine months this year, 2026, when he was given a target of ₦400m for the year. That is over 798% above the target for 2026 already. Meanwhile, the year has not even ended. It takes an officer with integrity to dish out DNs, probably into hundreds of millions, to people, and they are fighting you, and yet you refuse, and yet issue the DNs for national economic benefits.
I heard that he also rewards due diligence and hard work. He praises them, he encourages them to do more and to work more. So for me to now hear that Aliyu is retiring, I wholeheartedly congratulate him.
You know, he also, when he was in Oyo/Osun Command, did wonders there. He turned factories there that were already moribund back to life. Honestly, I don’t know how he did that, but it was really a thing of encouragement.
So for me, Aliyu is a fantastic officer that I know the CG and the Service will miss very well. If it were possible, I would have asked that the CGC maybe make the President bring him back to do another two years.
What’s your wish for him?
So, Aliyu, wherever he is going, I wish him a beautiful time after service. I thank God, Aliyu, that you are a worthy example of a very wonderful Customs officer. He is leaving with his neck and shoulders high up there. He is leaving with a lot of respect and a lot of integrity. He is leaving with so much trust, and I hope that the officers that sat under his tutelage these last few years will also emulate him and then apply those traits and then also pass them down to other officers. I wish him all the best.
What unseen influence can one attribute success at work to?
It’s important I mention that his immediate family contributed to his success. I want to specially thank his wife and children for their support to him throughout his career journey. If the home was not supportive, he would not have been able to achieve all he achieved during his service years and sensitive national assignments.
Let me tell you, if his wife were to be a woman of headache, he couldn’t have gone halfway, because there was peace at home. And also to Aliyu’s children: they must learn to emulate their father’s hard work, sincerity and integrity.
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