Thousands of job seekers were left stranded on Monday after the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) recruitment pre-test was disrupted by repeated portal crashes, sparking widespread frustration across the country.
The online pre-test, designed as a mock exercise to help shortlisted candidates practise log-in procedures, facial verification, and navigation ahead of the main computer-based test (CBT), ended up frustrating applicants who were repeatedly greeted with error messages, including the dreaded “500 Internal Server Error.”
From Lagos to Kano, cybercafés and offices were overcrowded with candidates refreshing their browsers for hours without success. On social media, especially X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, complaints and videos from stranded applicants trended throughout the day.
One candidate, posting as #musa_kiliya, urged Customs to consider conducting the test in batches to ease server pressure.
“Many candidates couldn’t access the site for about two to three hours. Most cybercafés were overcrowded. The CBT test should be done batch by batch to ease the pressure,” he wrote.
Some candidates managed to log in but faced fresh setbacks. Job seekers also noted that the portal crashed midway through their session
In response, the Customs Service admitted to the disruptions, attributing them to “heavy traffic” on the portal.
“We are currently experiencing high traffic on the site, which may cause temporary inaccessibility. Kindly keep trying as our team works to resolve the issue,” the agency said in a statement posted on its official Facebook page.
The NCS assured candidates that its technical team was working to stabilise the system and appealed for patience.
Despite the clarification, many applicants expressed doubts about the agency’s readiness for the main CBT, warning that Monday’s chaos must not be repeated.
