The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has warned customs police officers against abusing their enforcement powers, stressing the need for discipline, integrity and respect for the rule of law.
Adeniyi gave the warning on Thursday in Abuja at the inaugural Customs Police Summit, where he emphasised that the Service must balance trade facilitation with the fight against illicit trade.
According to him, the Customs Service cannot effectively facilitate legitimate trade or prevent illegal activities without a disciplined and trusted police unit.
"One truth is clear, customs must facilitate legitimate trade and stop illicit trade, and it can do neither of them without a disciplined and trusted police unit to uphold its own standards," he said.
The Customs boss stressed that officers must demonstrate integrity before demanding the same from traders and members of the public.
"The first is that charity begins at home. Before we demand integrity from traders and the public, we must show it as such," he stated.
He also cautioned officers against misusing their statutory enforcement powers, noting that the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, provides extensive police powers that must be exercised within the confines of the law.
"The second lesson, authority requires restraint. The NCS Act, 2023, gives us sweeping police powers. But every search, arrest and detention must rest on lawful grounds and withstand public and judicial assessment," Adeniyi said.
He noted that criminal networks had become increasingly sophisticated, exploiting the same trade routes used by legitimate businesses to move prohibited and illegal goods across borders.
According to him, such criminal activities include the smuggling of firearms and their components, narcotics, counterfeit medicines, protected wildlife and illicit financial flows, often through digital channels.
"Criminal networks have grown more sophisticated. They use the same route as legitimate traders to move firearms and components, narcotics, fake medicines, protected wildlife and illicit funds, often through digital channels. Our answers must be smarter. They must not be harder," he said.
Adeniyi described the Customs Police Unit as central to the Service's efforts to tackle criminal activities, ensure accountability and strengthen enforcement operations.
"The Customs Police Unit sits at the centre of all of this. It ensures that discretion is exercised lawfully, and that interception becomes successful prosecutions. Above all, it is the guardian of integrity," he added.
Earlier in his remarks, the Deputy Comptroller, T.S. Sanusi, Acting Provost Marshal of the Nigeria Customs Police Unit, said the Service was committed to strengthening its integrity.
DAILY POST reports that top officials from Nigeria's security agencies, including the Nigerian Navy and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, among others, attended the summit.
Customs CG warns officers against abuse of police powers, demands integrity