By Nkechi Eze
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has commenced efforts to strengthen its Police Unit, improve internal discipline and tackle misconduct as part of measures to enhance professionalism, accountability and operational efficiency within the Service.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this on Thursday at the inaugural Customs Police Summit 2026, held at the NAF Conference Centre, Kado, Abuja.
According to Adeniyi, the summit represents an important step towards repositioning the Customs Police Unit to effectively enforce discipline, uphold professional standards and ensure that the Service’s statutory powers are exercised responsibly.
He stressed that the Customs Service must demonstrate integrity within its ranks before demanding compliance 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 said.
Adeniyi noted that the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, confers extensive police powers on the Service, making it imperative for officers to exercise such authority with restraint and respect for the rule of law.
He maintained that every search, arrest and detention must be supported by lawful grounds and capable of withstanding public and judicial scrutiny.
“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,” he stated.
The Customs boss explained that a disciplined and trusted police unit was essential to achieving the Service’s dual mandate of facilitating legitimate trade and combating illicit trade.
He identified the growing sophistication of criminal networks, which exploit legitimate trade routes to smuggle firearms, narcotics, counterfeit medicines, protected wildlife and illicit funds, as a major challenge requiring smarter enforcement strategies.
“Our answers must be smarter. They must not be harder,” he said.
He described the Customs Police Unit as a critical component of the Service’s enforcement architecture, particularly in ensuring accountability, lawful application of discretion and the successful prosecution of intercepted offenders.
“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,” Adeniyi added.
Earlier, the Acting Provost Marshal of the NCS, DC T.S. Sanusi, said the summit marked a significant milestone in the institutional development and strategic repositioning of the Customs Police Unit.
Sanusi recalled that the unit was established in 2018 and formally inaugurated in 2019 to provide a dedicated structure for enforcing discipline, investigating misconduct and promoting compliance with professional standards among personnel and stakeholders.
He said the increasing complexities of international trade, transnational organised crime, illicit financial flows and corruption had reinforced the need for effective internal accountability and compliance mechanisms.
According to him, the initiative was designed to translate the Comptroller-General’s policy thrust of consolidation, collaboration and innovation into practical institutional reforms, improved enforcement and sustainable professional standards.
Sanusi urged officers to uphold integrity, restraint, fairness and accountability, stressing that the unit must lead by example in the discharge of its responsibilities.
“We cannot impose discipline on others if we fail to demonstrate it in our own conduct. Let our ranks represent integrity, restraint, fairness, professionalism and accountability,” he charged.
In his remarks, the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of Headquarters, MS Shuaibu, called for continuous improvement in the operational capacity of the unit to address emerging security and enforcement challenges.
He said the Customs Police Unit had responsibilities beyond conventional policing, including specialised criminal investigations, internal security operations, compliance monitoring, protection of service interests and ensuring professionalism across the Service.
Shuaibu emphasised the need for officers to respect human rights and follow lawful procedures, warning that enforcement without professionalism could result in injustice and erode public confidence.
“Remember, no one is above the law, and the enforcement of the law must never justify unjust treatment,” he said.
He also advocated stronger partnerships with security and anti-corruption agencies, alongside investment in modern investigative techniques, intelligence-led operations and technology-driven surveillance.
Similarly, the Head of Provost, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Bala Hameed, called on the Customs Service and other security agencies to strengthen supervisory structures and ensure that misconduct is promptly and fairly addressed.
Hameed, who delivered the commission’s goodwill message, described professionalism as the foundation of credibility in law enforcement, noting that investigations, arrests, searches and prosecutions must follow established procedures.
He identified respect for suspects’ rights, proper documentation, preservation of evidence and transparent chains of command as essential requirements for effective law enforcement.
“Discipline and adherence to standard operating procedures protect officers, strengthen cases in court and sustain public trust,” he said.
He further urged commanders to take responsibility for the conduct of personnel under their supervision, warning against shielding officers involved in misconduct.
“Authority carries accountability. Commanders must be answerable not only for their own conduct but for the conduct of those under them,” he stated.
Hameed also stressed the importance of intelligence sharing, inter-agency cooperation and capacity development in tackling transnational organised crime, trade-based money laundering, smuggling syndicates and technology-enabled offences.
He noted that organised criminal networks could only be effectively dismantled through coordinated intelligence gathering and collaboration among law enforcement agencies.
“No single agency can defeat organised, networked crime alone. Fragmented intelligence benefits only the offender,” he said.
The EFCC official reaffirmed the commission’s readiness to strengthen its partnership with the Customs Service and other military and paramilitary agencies through joint training, intelligence sharing and capacity-building programmes.
He urged participants to translate the resolutions of the three-day summit into practical institutional reforms that would strengthen accountability, improve operational effectiveness and promote a more professional law enforcement workforce.
