Despite Ignoring Smuggling Scandal, Nigeria Customs Service Acquires Surveillance Aircraft

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has acquired the Cessna Grand Caravan EX-208B, a utility aircraft, to support its “surveillance capabilities.”

Adewale Adeniyi, the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), disclosed this on Sunday in Abuja, in a statement issued by the service’s spokesperson, Abdullahi Maiwada.

According to the statement, the newly acquired aircraft, registered 5N-BAA, was inspected by the CGC on Friday, September 20, 2024, at Cessna Textron Factory, Independence, USA – Textron Aviation.

Describing the acquisition as a “game-changer,” Adeniyi emphasised it will “significantly enhance our [NCS] capacity for air surveillance and border patrol.”

Capt. Kuhi Mbaya, the Aircraft Operations Coordinator and Managing Director of Nigeria Customs Technical and Hangar Services Ltd, lauded the acquisition as a “milestone” for the NCS aviation unit.

The acquisition of the Cessna Grand Caravan is expected to provide significant tactical advantages to the Nigeria Customs Service, tightening border security and sending a clear signal to economic saboteurs that the service is better equipped than ever to combat smuggling activities,” the statement reads.

Meanwhile, on February 28, 2024, Fisayo Soyombo, Founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), in an exclusive report, uncovered smuggling activities by the NCS, aiding illegal supplies of motorcycles and hard drugs to terrorists in northern Nigeria through South-West (Ogun State) border.

Similarly, on February 21, 2024, Soyombo went undercover to expose smuggling activities within the NCS, including its entanglement with notorious smuggler Ibrahim Dende, known for being an associate of politically exposed persons including the current Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun, and Nigeria’s controversial President, Bola Tinubu. No arrests against the culprit were made following these exposés, but a politically motivated invite was made against Soyombo for exposing smuggling activities within the NCS.

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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