We have the authority to search any building and detain smugglers — Customs

According to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), officers are authorised to search any building for contraband goods.

According to PulseNets, there have been debates regarding the authority of customs officers to search any building for contraband.

Many have argued that NCS operations should only be conducted at border posts rather than pursuing smugglers down congested roads.

However, the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) gives the NCS the authority to search locations, vehicles, and aircraft as well as to make arrests, hold people in custody, and enforce the law similarly to the police, according to Bamidele Makinde, the Controller of Customs in Ogun 1 Area Command.

According to Makinde, the command has been carrying out its anti-smuggling operations through surveillance, patrol work, and the dispatch of people to staff all authorised border stations.

He claimed that the seizures that the command typically conducted were made feasible by the proper application of intelligence to support operations.

He said that they were carried out in compliance with the Customs and Excise Management Act’s provisions.

Citing various sections of the Act, Makinde hinted that, “Section 147 of CEMA Cap C45 Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, empowers Customs operatives to search premises suspected to have been used to conceal or store smuggled, prohibited, restricted or dutiable goods.”

He cited Sections 148, which gives NCS officers the right to inspect licenced properties, Section 150, which provides them the right to search people, and Section 158, which allows them the freedom to patrol at will.

The Controller continued by citing Section 167 as authorising detention and seizure, adding that Section 149 authorised the search of both automobiles and planes.

He clarified that in terms of carrying out enforcement tasks, Section 8 grants Customs Officers the same authority as the Police.

He revealed that NCS operatives have been in the creeks, border lines, approved and unapproved routes to make seizures worth more than four billion Naira in 2022 as part of their campaign against smuggling in various parts of Ogun State.

Makinde praised those he called crucial stakeholders in the fight against smuggling while acknowledging “the ongoing assistance” of the Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd), his management team, as well as officers and men.

Traditional leaders, local authorities, the media, and other security organisations are among those “who are showing concern and are collaborating with the service.”