Customs Declares War on Dirty Money

*** Partners EFCC, NDLEA, Police, NFIU, Immigration, Counter-Terror Centre

*** Targets money laundering, terrorism financing, cross-border illicit flows

By Okechukwu Eze, Abuja

The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has declared a full-scale war against money laundering, terrorism financing and cross-border illicit financial flows.

The Service is partnering with six key federal agencies to dismantle criminal networks threatening the nation’s economy and security, in a move described as the biggest inter-agency collaboration in recent years.

The agencies are the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, and the National Counter-Terrorism Centre under the Office of the National Security Adviser.

The partnership was sealed after a three-day strategic engagement held from October 27 to 29, 2026, led by the Assistant Comptroller-General in charge of Headquarters, Muhammad Shuaibu.

The engagement, according to Customs spokesman, Deputy Comptroller Abdullahi Maiwada, focused on enhancing intelligence sharing, operational coordination and institutional cooperation to combat financial crimes.

Shuaibu said the sole objective is to detect and disrupt illicit financial flows through field visits to border stations and stronger joint operations at entry points.

A World Customs Organisation, WCO, Mentoring Team led by Shahiduzzaman Sarkar also engaged the agencies on global best practices for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism.

Despite the renewed commitment, participants identified communication gaps, bureaucracy and database privacy concerns as major obstacles that must be addressed to make the collaboration effective.