The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has warned officers of the Customs Police Unit against abusing their enforcement powers, urging them to uphold 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 stressed the need for the Service to strike a balance between facilitating legitimate trade and combating illicit activities.
He said the Customs Service could not effectively discharge its responsibilities without a disciplined, accountable and trustworthy police unit.
“One truth is clear: Customs must facilitate legitimate trade and stop illicit trade, and it can do neither without a disciplined and trusted police unit to uphold its own standards,” he said.
The Customs boss maintained that officers must demonstrate integrity in the discharge of their duties before demanding similar standards from traders and members of the public.
He emphasised that integrity within the Service must begin with its personnel, adding that public confidence depended largely on the conduct of officers.
Adeniyi also cautioned against the arbitrary exercise of statutory enforcement powers, noting that the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, grants officers extensive police powers that must be exercised strictly within the provisions of the law.
“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,” he said.
He expressed concern over the growing sophistication of criminal networks, which he said had continued to exploit legitimate trade routes to transport prohibited goods across national borders.
According to him, such activities include the smuggling of firearms and their components, narcotics, counterfeit medicines, protected wildlife and illicit financial flows, including transactions facilitated through digital channels.
He urged officers to adopt more intelligence-driven and sophisticated enforcement strategies to tackle emerging threats, warning that effective policing should not translate into unnecessary hardship for legitimate traders and members of the public.
Adeniyi described the Customs Police Unit as central to the Service’s efforts to strengthen accountability, ensure lawful enforcement and bring offenders to justice.
He said the unit had a critical responsibility to ensure that officers exercised their discretion within the law and that successful interceptions translated into effective prosecutions.
Earlier, the Acting Provost Marshal of the Nigeria Customs Police Unit, Deputy Comptroller T.S. Sanusi, reaffirmed the Service’s commitment to strengthening discipline and integrity among its personnel.
The summit was attended by senior officials of various security agencies, including the Nigerian Navy and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).