Customs warns against smuggling, illicit trade

Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has warned Nigerians and other relevant parties against smuggling of goods and any form of illicit trade.

Mr Adewale Adeniyi, the Comptroller-General(C-G) of the service, gave the warning in his new year message on Sunday.

Adeniyi said that NCS would strengthen its anti-smuggling strategy in 2024 aimed at improving its performance and boosting the revenue profile of Nigeria.

He said that NCS was determined to improve on its statutory function of revenue collection through import and excise duties among other taxes and levies in 2024.

He said that concerted efforts was required among all stakeholder and called for more cooperation with the service in order to achieve the feat.

“As we celebrate the new year, the Nigeria Customs Service encourage all importers, exporters and excise traders to remain compliant and say no to smuggling and any form of illicit trade,” he said.

At the budget defence for 2024, Adeniyi has told the legislators that the customs revenue target for 2023 was N3.684 trillion and the sum of N2.959 trillion had been generated so far, representing 81 per cent of the year’s projected income.

He added that there are other measures being put in place to increase revenue generation, including “deepening” operations and automating customs processes.