Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has dissolved the Joint Border Patrol Team (JBPT) and approved the reduction of checkpoints nationwide to streamline operations and ease the movement of goods and persons across the country’s borders.
  
The Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Bashir Adeniyi, announced the development in a statement, yesterday, emphasising that it was part of a reinvigorated 2025 Enforcement Strategy aimed at strengthening border management.
  
According to him, the strategy is designed to remove bottlenecks associated with trade, enhance border security, combat smuggling and facilitate legitimate trade.
  
Adeniyi further explained that the dissolution of the JBPT followed consultations with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).  The JBPT, which commenced in 2019 under the code name “Ex-Swift Response,” was originally established to enforce Nigeria’s partial border closure policy.
  
The CGC noted that since its inception, the JBPT had played a pivotal role in curbing the influx of dangerous goods and ensuring compliance with Nigeria’s trade and security regulations.
  
Adeniyi further highlighted that the reduction of customs checkpoints would not compromise border security but would instead enhance operational efficiency.   He said moving forward, the NCS would rely more on actionable intelligence and strategic risk management frameworks to strengthen enforcement capabilities.  According to him, the Service is deploying geospatial tools and advanced technologies to ensure the effectiveness of its enforcement strategies. 
  
“This development underscores our commitment to leveraging innovative, intelligence-driven approaches for effective border enforcement and anti-smuggling operations,” Adeniyi added.

ADNIYI spoke just as the lawmaker representing Badagry Federal Constituency, Sesi Whingan, condemned assault and brutality allegedly meted out to innocent citizens of Badagry by operatives of the Service. 
  
Whingan spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Badagry. Recall that the lawmaker had, on December 1, raised a motion on the floor of the House of Representatives addressing alleged human rights abuses by Customs officers in the region.
 
 He said the motion was necessitated by the alarming reports of physical abuse, intimidation and harassment of law-abiding residents, particularly youths of Badagry, by Customs personnel under the guise of combating smuggling.
  
The lawmaker said that while the fight against smuggling remained a critical responsibility of the NCS, it should not be pursued at the expense of the safety, dignity and fundamental rights of innocent citizens.
 
 “Badagry people are not smugglers. The continuous profiling and assault of our youths by some unscrupulous officers of the Nigerian Customs Service are unacceptable and must be stopped immediately. 
  
“My motion at the House of Representatives was aimed at addressing these grave injustices and ensuring that those responsible are held accountable,” Whingan stated.
  
Whingan called on the NCS to adopt a more professional approach in their operations, which would ensure that their personnel respect the rights of citizens while carrying out their duties.