The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has strengthened its collaboration with six federal government agencies to tackle cross-border illicit financial flows, money laundering, corruption, drug trafficking, terrorism financing and other financial crimes.
The initiative followed a three-day engagement visit to the agencies from October 27 to 29, 2026, led by the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of Headquarters, Muhammad Shuaibu.
The exercise was aimed at deepening inter-agency cooperation, intelligence sharing and coordinated efforts to combat financial crimes and other illicit activities threatening Nigeria’s economy and national security.
The agencies engaged include the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the National Counter-Terrorism Centre under the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
Speaking during the engagements, Shuaibu said the initiative was designed to improve coordination among relevant agencies and strengthen the detection and disruption of cross-border illicit financial flows.
He explained that the exercise would also involve field visits to selected border stations to assess existing Customs control measures and engage relevant agencies on operational strategies.
“The sole objective of this mission is to effectively detect and disrupt cross-border illicit financial flows. The measures include field visits to selected border stations to assess practical Customs control measures and engage with relevant agencies,” he said.
In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of the NFIU, represented by the Chief Operating Officer, Intelligence Security Service Sector, Muhammed-Mustapha, commended the NCS for its contributions to the fight against smuggling and efforts to strengthen border security.
He described the relationship between the two institutions as longstanding, recalling that the Customs Service was the first agency to collaborate with the NFIU following its establishment.
“When NFIU was created, NCS was the first to collaborate with us. No particular agency understands things better than how Customs does globally,” Mustapha said.
Also participating in the engagements was the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Mentoring Team, led by Shahiduzzaman Sarkar, which shared insights on strategies for combating Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT).
The team called for stronger collaboration with the Customs Service to ensure the successful implementation of the initiative.
Participants identified communication gaps, bureaucratic bottlenecks and concerns surrounding database privacy as some of the challenges hindering effective inter-agency cooperation.
They also discussed possible solutions to these challenges, with emphasis on improving information sharing, strengthening institutional relationships and enhancing operational coordination.
The engagements concluded with the presentation of NCS awards and WCO certificates to the participating agencies in recognition of their contributions and commitment to strengthening collaboration against threats to Nigeria’s economy and national security.
