The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Seme Area Command has recorded significant strides in revenue generation and anti-smuggling efforts, raking in over N3.57 billion between January and May 2025. The command also facilitated the export of 220,300 metric tonnes of goods, valued at N47 billion Free on Board (FOB), reflecting its growing role in trade facilitation at Nigeria’s western land border.
Comptroller Ben Oramalugo, the Customs Area Controller of the Seme Command, disclosed these figures during the visit of Assistant Comptroller General Charles Orbih, the Zonal Coordinator for Zone A, to the ECOWAS Joint Border Post at Seme-Krake.
Despite these achievements, Oramalugo highlighted critical operational challenges hampering the command’s performance, including over seven years of electricity outage, poor road infrastructure, non-functional scanning machines, and porous borders. He stressed that the Command is actively advocating for infrastructure upgrades, modern surveillance tools, and closer collaboration with other security agencies and host communities to tackle these longstanding issues.
In the fight against smuggling, the Command seized contraband valued at N889 million. The confiscated items include expired pharmaceuticals, cannabis, and dangerous chemicals such as corrosive mercury, all of which have been handed over to the appropriate authorities for further investigation.
Oramalugo also praised the support from higher authorities within the Service, noting that the visit by ACG Orbih reinforces the leadership’s commitment to strengthening customs operations across the Zone.
In his remarks, ACG Orbih commended the Command’s recent development initiatives, including the renovation of the Customs Officers’ Wives Association (COWA) building, upgrades to the sports complex, and the commissioning of a new officers’ mess. He described these efforts as in line with the transformation vision of Comptroller-General Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, built on the pillars of Consolidation, Collaboration, and Innovation.
Orbih further revealed that Zone A accounted for 79.8 percent of the NCS’s total revenue of N1.3 trillion in the first quarter of 2025, underscoring the Zone’s strategic economic significance. He also highlighted ongoing reforms within the Service such as the Advance Ruling System, the Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) programme, and the newly introduced indigenous Customs Clearance system known as the B’Odogwu platform, all aimed at modernising trade processes and boostingcompliance.
