The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘A’, Ikeja, Lagos, has welcomed Deputy Comptroller, Oladapo Olukayode Afeni as the unit’s 30th Acting Comptroller, as Comptroller Gambo Aliyu retired from the Service after a meritorious tenure.

Afeni, in his inaugural address, pledged “purposeful, professional and accountable leadership” in furtherance of the mandate of the Nigeria Customs Service.

He expressed appreciation for the confidence reposed in him by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi and the Service’s management team.

The acting Comptroller said his administration would pursue “intelligence-led enforcement”, block revenue leakages, and protect Nigeria’s economic and security interests.

He emphasised that enforcement activities would be “firm, lawful and respectful of human dignity”, while legitimate trade would be facilitated through constructive engagement with traders, manufacturers, importers, exporters, customs brokers and other stakeholders.

He also called for stronger collaboration with sister security and law-enforcement agencies to combat trans-border crimes, including the illicit movement of drugs, arms, currencies, counterfeit goods and other prohibited items.

Afeni pledged attention to officers’ welfare, professional development, institutional discipline, and regular sporting activities to promote fitness, teamwork and work–life balance.

In his handing-over address, the immediate past Comptroller of the unit, retired Comptroller Gambo Aliyu, expressed gratitude and humility, marking the occasion as a formal transfer of leadership while reflecting on the responsibilities and challenges of commanding the unit.

He noted that his administration focused on combating smuggling, revenue fraud, concealment, under-declaration, false declaration, and the movement of prohibited goods.

Highlighting major operational successes, he reported the interception of 779 smuggling attempts involving items such as: Over 20,900 bags of foreign parboiled rice, 61 used vehicles, thousands of used compressors, clothing items, foreign poultry products, 4,418jerrycans of vegetable oil.

Others are: 12,606 parcels of cannabis weighing 6,194.3kg, 2.30kg of cocaine, over 3,000 jerrycans of Premium Motor Spirit (76,505 litres), 22 elephant tusks weighing 130.84kg. These and other seizures had a total duty-paid value of N13 billion.

On revenue recovery, Aliyu reported remarkable performance between December 10, 2025 and September 24, 2026, with the unit recovering N3 billion, representing 798 per cent of its N400 million annual target for 2026.

He attributed these achievements to “enhanced risk profiling, stricter compliance checks, targeted introspection into suspicious declarations, teamwork, professionalism and collaboration with sister agencies and stakeholders”, stressing that “no enforcement agency can succeed in isolation”.