By Stella Odueme
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intensified efforts to combat cross-border financial crimes through strategic engagements with six federal government agencies to strengthen intelligence sharing and inter-agency cooperation.
According to a statement on Sunday, the initiative, which took place from October 27 to 29, 2026, focused on tackling illicit financial flows, money laundering, corruption, drug trafficking, terrorism financing and other related criminal activities.
The three-day engagement was led by the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of Headquarters, Muhammad Shuaibu, who said the collaboration was designed to improve coordination among security and law enforcement institutions in protecting Nigeria's economy and national security.
The agencies involved were 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).
Shuaibu explained that the exercise was aimed at improving the detection and disruption of cross-border illicit financial transactions, adding that the team would also visit selected border stations to assess Customs control measures and engage relevant stakeholders.
He said the field assessments would provide opportunities to evaluate operational challenges and identify areas requiring stronger cooperation among the participating institutions.
In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of the NFIU, represented by the Chief Operating Officer, Intelligence Security Service Sector, Muhammed-Mustapha, praised the NCS for its contributions to the fight against smuggling and efforts to strengthen border security.
Mustapha recalled the longstanding partnership between both institutions, noting that the Customs Service was the first agency to collaborate with the NFIU following its establishment.
He said the NCS possessed significant institutional experience in global Customs operations, making its partnership important in addressing financial crimes.
Also participating in the engagements was the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Mentoring Team, led by Shahiduzzaman Sarkar, which discussed strategies for strengthening Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) measures.
The team urged the participating agencies to deepen their cooperation with the NCS to ensure the successful implementation of the initiative.
Discussions during the meetings identified communication gaps, bureaucratic bottlenecks and concerns surrounding database privacy as some of the challenges limiting effective information exchange among the agencies.
Participants also examined possible solutions to these obstacles, with emphasis on improving institutional coordination, intelligence sharing and operational effectiveness.
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 the fight against financial crimes and other threats to Nigeria's national security.