Seme Customs’ revenue surges 24.45%, seizes explosives, drugs, expired noodles

…Surpasses entire 2025 collection in seven months

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Seme Area Command, generated ₦19.84 billion between January and July 2026, surpassing its entire 2025 revenue collection by ₦3.9 billion, even as it intensified its crackdown on smuggling and transnational criminal activities along the border corridor.

The Command’s seven-month revenue performance represents a 24.45 per cent increase over the ₦15.94 billion it generated in the whole of 2025.

The Customs Area Controller, Seme Command, Comptroller Abdullahi Shuaibu Kaila, disclosed the figures on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, while briefing journalists at the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos State.

Kaila attributed the revenue growth to improved compliance, enhanced stakeholder engagement and stronger operational efficiency, stressing that the achievement demonstrated that trade facilitation and effective enforcement could work together.

While recording the revenue milestone, the Command also announced seizures of prohibited and potentially dangerous goods with a combined Duty Paid Value of ₦365.16 million.

Among the seizures were 3,300 cartridges of explosive materials, which Customs intercepted while being illegally conveyed through the border corridor.

Kaila described the interception as a major national-security achievement, warning that explosives in the hands of criminal elements could facilitate terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes.

The explosive materials, together with one suspect, have been handed over to the Nigeria Police Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit for safe custody and further investigation.

The Command also intercepted 1,306 sacks of expired and waste noodles, each weighing 50kg, after a truck carrying the products was falsely declared as conveying food items.

According to Kaila, intelligence indicated that the deteriorated noodles were intended to be repackaged and relabelled for sale to unsuspecting consumers.

He said the seizure demonstrated that Customs border enforcement was also an important component of public-health protection.

In another operation, officers intercepted 1,268 bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice allegedly smuggled through illegal routes.

The Command said the seizure would help protect domestic rice production, support Nigerian farmers and prevent revenue losses associated with illicit importation.

Also intercepted were 373 parcels of Cannabis Sativa, 90 packs of Tramaking 250mg, 69 packs of Royal Tapentadol 250mg and 310,000 sticks of cigarettes.

Kaila said the illicit drugs, unregistered pharmaceutical products and other harmful substances would 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 necessary action.

Other seizures included one used speedboat, one water bike, a 2017 Toyota Land Cruiser, a 2016 Toyota RAV4 and a 2010 Nissan Versa.

The Controller warned smugglers and other economic saboteurs that the border corridor would remain under sustained intelligence-led surveillance.

“Seme is no longer a safe corridor for economic sabotage,” Kaila declared.

He explained that the Command’s rising revenue performance and enforcement successes were mutually reinforcing, noting that stronger compliance and facilitation of legitimate commerce would expand the legitimate trade base while intelligence-driven enforcement would deny criminal elements access to the corridor.

“We remain committed to creating an enabling environment for compliant traders to conduct legitimate business with ease and predictability,” he said.

Kaila further reaffirmed the Command’s commitment to facilitating regional commerce under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), while supporting the Federal Government’s economic reforms.

He commended sister security and regulatory agencies for intelligence sharing and operational cooperation, as well as border communities and other stakeholders for supporting the Command’s activities.

The Controller also assured compliant businesses that Customs would continue to balance border enforcement with trade facilitation, saying the objective was to secure the nation’s borders while ensuring legitimate trade thrives.

The Command’s performance, he said, reflected a broader approach to border management in which revenue generation, trade facilitation, public-health protection and national security remain interconnected components of its mandate.