The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has enhanced its border security and intelligence capabilities with the deployment of an INTERPOL Data Centre at its Headquarters in Abuja, providing Customs officers with access to one of the world’s largest criminal intelligence networks.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, announced the development during a demonstration of the facility, describing it as a significant milestone in the Service’s technology-driven transformation and intelligence-led enforcement strategy.
Adeniyi said modern Customs enforcement has gone beyond traditional compliance, with technology now playing a critical role in tackling transnational organised crime and securing national borders. He disclosed that the planned signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Nigeria Customs Service and INTERPOL would further strengthen collaboration in intelligence sharing and law enforcement.
The Customs boss also highlighted the Service’s indigenous B’Odogwu digital platform, describing it as an innovative solution capable of improving trade facilitation in Nigeria while serving as a model for other Customs administrations across Africa.
Speaking during the event, INTERPOL Consultant Chikwe Udensi said the facility is the eighth INTERPOL Data Centre established in Africa. According to him, the platform provides Customs officers with access to more than 152 global criminal databases containing information on stolen vehicles, vessels, cargo, parcels and other transported assets.
Udensi explained that the system enables officers to instantly verify whether goods or transport assets have been reported stolen anywhere in the world, thereby strengthening border security, criminal investigations and revenue generation through real-time intelligence.
Also speaking, the Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of Enforcement, Investigation and Inspection, Timi Bomodi, disclosed that officers have already been trained to operate the platform, which has been fully integrated into the Service’s ICT infrastructure.
Bomodi added that the INTERPOL Data Centre will also enhance cargo profiling, valuation and risk assessment by providing officers with accurate information on the description, movement and origin of goods, further improving the efficiency of Customs operations.
The deployment of the facility marks another step in the Nigeria Customs Service’s ongoing efforts to modernise border management, improve intelligence-led enforcement and strengthen collaboration with international law enforcement agencies in combating transnational crime.
