General
Customs Receives Two Mobile Scanners for Greater Efficiency
By Adedapo Adesanya
- To Deploy Drones at Seme Border Soon
- Claims N719m Revenue, Processes 635,149.23 metric tons valued at N15.5 billion
The Nigeria Customs Service, Tincan Island Area Command, has taken delivery of two NUCTECH Mobile Scanners MT1213DE with accessories.
The equipment arrived on board Glovis Horizon Leader from the Port of Shanghai, China on Monday, according to a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the command, Mr Uche Ejesieme.
The Area Controller, Mr Abdullahi Musa, who received the consignment, said, “Integration of scanning into the clearance procedure for imports was in line with global best practices for trade facilitation.”
He said that the key objective of deploying scanners was to reduce the time needed for physical inspection of goods which generated extensive cost and created multiple burdens and inconveniences for both importers and customs.
He expressed delight at the development and thanked the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Mr Hameed Ali, and the entire agency’s management team for the feat.
“Recall that the CGC on assumption had promised to reform, restructure and raise revenue; these scanners will constantly enhance trade facilitation and consequently lead to increased revenue,” he said.
He assured stakeholders that the deployment of the scanners would result in increased cargo handling and greater efficiency in the trade value chain.
In a related development, the NCS noted that it will soon deploy drones at Seme for effective patrol in checking smuggling activities in the border area.
This was revealed by the Zone A Coordinator and Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) of Customs, Mrs Modupe Aremu, during a working visit to Seme Border Area Command.
She said border management surveillance will be done electronically through the use of drones to ensure that there will be an area overview of what is happening.
She said, “Seme command visit is the end of my tour in Zone A and I must commend all the commands, they account for over 80 per cent of revenue collection by the NCS and so they should keep up the good work.
“With the tour of all commands, I have seen that all the officers are doing well but they can still do better. And I am telling them that they should be expecting impromptu visits from the Zonal Coordinator, so they should not relax on the job.
“Also, e-customs N300 billion contract that is end-to-end automation that is about to kick-off is about Information and Communication Technology connectivity; when it comes on board, we are going to have an electronic signature, drones patrolling the border.”
She noted that the service was trying to minimize person to person contact to reduce human interaction and make the work faster and more efficient.
Mrs Aremu expressed satisfaction with the joint border post buildings that was commissioned on October 23, 2018, noting that it ushered in an era of coordinated border management.
“This is one-stop-shop and from what the comptroller has shown me, it is what is practised abroad; this is really commendable that what we see when we travel, we have it here in Nigeria,” she said.
She urged Seme Customs to keep abreast of all the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocols in order to understand what was happening.
On enforcement activities, she urged the command to keep pushing as the nation at this point in time needed the service to properly secure its borders.
She expressed the hope that the scanner at the border would start functioning to help simplify processes as much as possible, urging the command to ensure proper compilation of case files and prosecution of arrested suspects to show the seriousness of the service in fighting smuggling.
On his part, the Seme Customs Comptroller, Mr Bello Jibo, noted that enforcement activities were not affected by the border closure as the command made a remarkable interception of 1,244 suspected smuggled goods with a duty paid value of over N856 million.
He noted that despite unfriendly economic policies imposed on goods transiting through the Benin Republic, the command was able to collect about N719 million as revenue and processed export volume of 635,149.23 metric tons with a free on board value of N15.5 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Governor of Oyo State, Mr Seyi Makinde, has approved the extension of the curfew imposed on 10 local government areas bordering the Old Oyo National Park by an additional 24 hours.
The development was announced in a statement issued by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Musibau Babatunde, and signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Mr Suleiman Olanrewaju.
The state government had, on June 23, 2026, imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew from 4:00 pm to 8:00 am on the affected local government areas as part of measures to address the prevailing security situation.
With the extension, the curfew, which was initially scheduled to last 48 hours, will now remain in force until Saturday, June 27, 2026.
The affected local government areas are Oriire, Orelope, Irepo, Saki West, Saki East, Atisbo, Itesiwaju, Iseyin, Olorunsogo and Atiba.
The government urged residents of the affected areas to continue cooperating with security agencies and to comply fully with the directive as efforts continue to safeguard lives and property.
This development follows the abduction of 39 students and seven teachers in an attack targeting several schools in Nigeria’s southwestern Oyo State in May.
The attack took place in Ahoro Esinele community in Oriire district, targeting a secondary school and two primary schools, according to officials. With over 40 days in captivity, all rescue efforts have so far not yielded results.
Mass kidnappings by armed groups have become a serious security challenge in Nigeria in recent years, with criminal gangs exploiting weak security to target travellers, students, and rural communities for cash payments. Schools are often targeted, although such attacks used to be rare in the southwest of the country.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
In order to aid alternative and sustainable means of livelihood amid rising food prices and growing concerns over food security in Nigeria, the Ibese Plant of Dangote Cement Plc has handed over a state-of-the-art garri and fufu processing plant to the Kajola host community in Ewekoro Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The facility is expected to support cassava farmers and processors by improving efficiency and expanding income-generating opportunities.
According to the organisation, the project, delivered under the Community Development Agreement (CDA) with its host communities signed in 2022, is a strategic intervention aimed at boosting agricultural value addition, reducing post-harvest losses and strengthening livelihoods for rural farmers and women.
The Ibese Plant Director, Mr Ayyagari Subbaraidu, at the commissioning, said, “This project is aimed at improving cassava processing, reducing losses and creating sustainable employment for women and farmers in the community.”
He disclosed that the facility features separate garri and fufu processing units equipped with modern machinery, including a five-tonne-per-day peeling machine, hydraulic presses, frying systems, fermentation basins, solar-powered boreholes and sanitation infrastructure, adding that it will serve as a catalyst for local economic growth by enhancing productivity and supporting small-scale agribusinesses across Kajola and neighbouring communities.
The Plant Director also urged the community and the Project Governance Committee to maintain transparency in the management of the facility to ensure long-term sustainability.
The Ogun State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Bolu Owotomo, who was at the unveiling of the project, said it aligns with Governor Dapo Abiodun’s vision of making agriculture a key driver of economic growth through value addition and enterprise development.
The Commissioner disclosed that “over 166,000 farmers, including more than 90,000 cassava farmers, have been registered under the Ogun State Farmers Information Management System (OGFIMS) to benefit from government interventions.”
He urged the community to safeguard the facility and assured residents of the continued support of the state government towards agricultural development and food security.
“This processing plant will strengthen the cassava value chain, improve product quality, create jobs and enhance food security while boosting farmers’ incomes,” the Commissioner stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has hailed the recent sanctioning of three Nigerian bureau de change (BDC) operators by the United States’ Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for alleged terrorism financing.
“The Nigeria Sanctions Committee welcomes the recent inclusion of Mukthar Muhammad Adamu, Nine to Nine BDC, and Generation BDC Limited by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
“These designations follow the inclusion of Adamu and his companies as part of a broader update to the Nigeria Sanctions List approved and published on 18th June 2026,” it disclosed in a statement.
It said that the naming of the three companies and six people followed extensive intelligence gathering, financial investigations, and inter-agency assessments, which established reasonable grounds to believe that the affected individuals and entities facilitated, financed, supported, or otherwise contributed to the activities of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and associated terrorist networks.
“The individuals and entities added to the Nigeria Sanctions List on 18th June 2026 are Ibrahim Yakubu Ogirima (NLISWi.19), Muktar Muhammad Adamu (NLISWi.20), Adamu Chiroma (NLISWi.21), Ibrahim Abubakar (NLISWi.22), Abdullahi Umar Usman (NLISWi.23), Babangida Muhammed Adamu Hammajam (NLISWi.24), Abbal Bako & Sons Bureau De Change Limited (NLISWe.25), Generation Currency BDC Limited (NLISWe.26), Nine to Nine BDC Limited (NLISWe.27),” the statement read in part.
The federal government reiterated its directive to all financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions to continue to comply with all sanctions obligations, including asset-freezing requirements, the filing of suspicious transaction reports, and the reporting of all relevant matches to the appropriate authorities.
The sanctions committee commended the work of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Department of State Services, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit for their actions to ensure that terrorist groups are denied the resources that sustain their activities.
It stated that Nigeria remains resolute in its commitment to ensuring that terrorists and their financiers find no safe haven within the country’s financial system.
The committee also said that the Federal Government would continue to work closely with domestic stakeholders and international partners to protect national security, strengthen financial integrity, and contribute to global efforts to combat terrorism and its financing.
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