NCS deepens war on financial crimes, strengthens intelligence sharing with six agencies

By Onu Okorie

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intensified efforts to combat cross-border financial crimes, money laundering, terrorism financing and other security threats through stronger intelligence-sharing arrangements with six key federal government agencies.
The initiative, which underscores the growing importance of inter-agency cooperation in tackling organised financial and transnational crimes, involved strategic engagements with 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.
The three-day engagement, held from October 27 to 29, 2026, was led by the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of Headquarters, Muhammad Shuaibu, and focused on strengthening institutional cooperation, intelligence exchange and operational coordination in addressing threats to Nigeria’s economy and national security.
Speaking during the engagements, Shuaibu said the initiative was designed to improve the capacity of participating agencies to detect, investigate and disrupt illicit financial flows across Nigeria’s borders.
He explained that the exercise included field visits to selected border stations to assess existing Customs control mechanisms and engage relevant agencies on practical measures for strengthening border security.
“The sole objective of this mission is to effectively detect and disrupt cross-border illicit financial flows. The measures include field visits to selected border stations to assess practical Customs control measures and engage with relevant agencies,” he said.
The Customs initiative comes amid growing concerns over the use of international trade channels, porous borders and financial networks to facilitate money laundering, drug trafficking, terrorism financing, corruption and other organised criminal activities.
A major highlight of the engagements was the recognition of the longstanding working relationship between the NCS and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.
The Chief Executive Officer of the NFIU, represented by the Chief Operating Officer, Intelligence Security Service Sector, Muhammed-Mustapha, commended Customs for its contributions to the fight against smuggling and efforts to reinforce border security.
He recalled that the Customs Service was among the earliest institutions to collaborate with the NFIU following its establishment, describing the relationship as critical to the country’s financial intelligence architecture.
“When NFIU was created, NCS was the first to collaborate with us. No particular agency understands things better than how Customs does globally,” Mustapha said.
The engagements also received technical support from a World Customs Organisation (WCO) Mentoring Team led by Shahiduzzaman Sarkar, which interacted with the participating agencies on strategies for strengthening Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) frameworks.
The WCO team emphasised the need for deeper collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service, noting that effective implementation of the initiative would depend largely on sustained institutional cooperation and improved information exchange.
However, discussions during the engagements exposed some operational challenges affecting cooperation among the agencies.
Participants identified communication gaps, bureaucratic bottlenecks and concerns surrounding database privacy as some of the factors limiting effective information sharing and coordinated responses to financial and security threats.
They consequently explored possible solutions to these challenges, with emphasis on improving communication channels, reducing administrative delays and strengthening institutional trust while respecting the confidentiality requirements governing sensitive information.
The discussions also highlighted the importance of coordinated intelligence gathering and timely information exchange in identifying suspicious transactions, tracking criminal networks and preventing illicit funds from moving across international borders.
As part of efforts to reinforce institutional relationships, the Nigeria Customs Service presented awards to participating agencies, while the WCO team issued certificates in recognition of their involvement in the engagements.
The initiative represents another step in the Customs Service’s efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s border management and financial security framework through partnerships with agencies responsible for law enforcement, intelligence gathering, migration control and counterterrorism.
With cross-border criminal activities increasingly requiring coordinated responses beyond the capacity of individual institutions, the success of the initiative will depend on how effectively the participating agencies translate the agreements and recommendations into practical intelligence-sharing arrangements and joint enforcement operations.