The attention of the Nigeria Customs Service has been drawn to a video circulated by ‘Sahara Reporters’ on ‘Twitter’ alleging that Customs personnel collect N5000 from smugglers, and make at least N2 million in a day. This was contained in a press statement by the Deputy National Public Relations Officer, Deputy Comptroller Timi Bomodi to Hybrid Online News Nigeria.

According to the statement, a careful review of the video’s content revealed crucial information which inclines the Service to completely repudiate the story in its entirety.
Contrary to its claims, no Customs personnel was sighted throughout this recording. For the avoidance of doubt, our officers are easily identified by our official uniform, which are compulsorily worn while on duty either at approved checkpoints or patrol bases.
There is no evidence linking the events which played out in this video with the Nigeria Customs Service. For all we know this video may have been unearthed from archival material predating our time as the vehicles in use indicate.
More importantly, there was no evidence of exchange/collection of money as alluded to in the story, which makes no sense if the intention was to show that ‘officers’ were collecting money at that unknown spot.

While the Service is ready and willing to accept reports of unprofessional conducts by its personel with a view to dealing decisively with confirmed deviants, acts such as portrayed in this video from Sahara reporters, with no useful information, but with a clear deformatory narrative is totally unacceptable and should be condemned in no uncertain terms.

At this challenging times when Law enforcement agents are daily putting their lives on the line in the interest of the nation, only responsible investigative reportage should be entertained. Our country and its citizens are better served by a press which harnesses its energies towards spotlighting truth, and not to lend itself to smear campaigns garnished with incompetence and a disingenuous disinformation agenda as conveyed by ‘Sahara Reporters’.

While the motive for this story remains unknown, we implore members of the public to disregard this video. We give assurances of our commitment to the course of nation building by remaining true to the fight against smuggling, while redoubling our efforts at revenue generation and trade facilitation.