Customs

WCO, Interpol crackdown on wildlife smugglers

—seize more than 1,000 big cats, turtles, birds in ‘operation thunder’

Eyewitness reporter

An international crackdown on smugglers of wildlife and other endangered species has led to the massive seizure of more than 1,000 big cats, turtles, and birds.

The international trafficking operation, code names “Operation Thunder 2021” was coordinated by the World Customs Organisation and assisted by the International Police (Interpol) which involved wildlife enforcement agencies from 118 different countries.

Sniffer dogs and x-ray scanners were used to check thousands of cargo ships, trucks, and cars.

The worldwide seizures included 75 big cat parts and 29 live big cats along with reptiles and birds.

In Spain, more than 250,000 euros of protected items were seized. This includes turtles, items made from ivory, and parrots.

The operation ran for the whole of October and around 300 suspects were identified.

Jurgen Stock, the Interpol Secretary-General said “Organised crime networks are generating billions in illicit profits every year, at significant cost to our environment as well as the associated impacts of fraud, corruption, and violence,

“We are seeing the continued globalisation of crime, which means only an international response can be effective, as demonstrated with this latest Operation Thunder.”
“Every one of our 195 member countries has a role to play in combating this threat, either directly or in the follow-up investigations.”

Customs

Customs shuns N12 trillion inflated revenue target imposed by National Assembly

— focuses on realising N6.5 trillion 2025 target

Funso OLOJO

The Nigeria Customs Service may have tactically shrugged off the imposition of the N12 trillion revenue target by the National Assembly.

It could be recalled that government gave the NCS ₦6.5 trillion revenue target for 2025.

This followed the impressive revenue performance of the service in 2024 when it surpassed that year’s target of N5.07 trillion by 20.2 percent.

However , in January, 2025, the National Assembly joint committee on Finance led by its chairmen, Senator Sani Musa and Hon. James Faleke, believed that the projection of N6.5 trillion revenue target given to the customs was conservative and encouraged the NCS to aim higher.

Consequently, the joint committee slammed a whooping sum of N12 trillion as revenue target, doubling the initial N6.5 trillion projected revenue.

This humongous target sparked off an outrage among perplexed stakeholders who felt the target imposed by the law makers was outrageous and unrealistic which they feared may stretch the capacity of the customs to a breaking point and put unnecessary pressure on the men and officers of the agency.

Indication that the Customs authority may not be well disposed to the imposed target of N12 trillion by the National Assembly emerged recently when the Comptroller -General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, was giving account of the activities of the service in the first quarter of 2025.

While giving the analysis of the revenue performance of the service during the period under review, Adeniyi benchmarked the revenue generated by the service during the first quarter of 2025 by N6.5 trillion revenue target given by the Federal Ministry of Finance, thus jettisoning the N12 trillion imposed by the National Assembly.

“ Against our annual target of ₦6,580,000,000,000.00, the first quarter’s proportional benchmark stood at ₦1,645,000,000,000.00.

“I’m proud to announce we’ve exceeded this target by ₦106.5 billion, achieving 106.47% of our quarterly projection.

” This outstanding performance represents a substantial 29.96% increase compared to the same period in 2024, where we collected

₦1,347,705,251,658.31″ Adewale stated, while giving the analysis of the performance of the service in the first three months of the year.

Analysts believed that from the analysis of the revenue performance of the NCS in the first quarter of the year which was predicated on the N6.5 trillion revenue target, it was obvious that the service was not paying much attention to the imposed N12 trillion, but rather focusing on how to meet the more realistic target of N 6 .5 trillion.

” You can see that the CGC did not make mention of the N12 trillion imposed by the National Assembly which presupposes that the unrealistic amount is not in the reckoning of the Customs” a customs broker who plies his trade at Apapa port, said, pleading for anonymity.

” Where on earth do they want the Customs to realize such an humongous amount of money in a depressed economy, in a country where importation has plummeted due to the unfriendly policies of government?

“It is unfortunate that these people (the law makers) have lost touch with the current economic realities in the country.

” All what they are after is to witch hunt government agencies to go and hunt for money for them to share.

” If not, how could they sit down in the comfort of their air conditioned offices and imposed such amount of revenue for customs to realize.

” Of course, the pressure would be on the men and officers of the service who will in turn go after the hapless importers and their agents in the most brutal way to raise the imposed target.

” It is unfortunate that the lawmakers, who are expected to make laws that will encourage export drive of the Federal government, are those asking the customs to focus more on the import goods where such money could be realized” another freight forwarder, who did not want his name in print but based at Tin Can Island port, declared.

Customs

Exports slump in first quarter of 2025 as Customs processes 8,153 shipments in three months.

Funso OLOJO

The export drive of the Federal government suffered a slight set back in the first quarter of 2025 when Nigeria recorded an export shipment of 8,153 (SGDs) during the period, down from 8,710 shipments(SGDs) recorded in the last quarter of 2024, representing 6.4 per cent decline and further slump of 24.4 per cent over the first quarter of 2024 which stood at 10,786 shipments(SGDs).

The statistics were part of the first quarter activities of the Nigeria customs service as presented by the Comptroller- General of Customs on Tuesday April 22nd, 2025.

” Despite fewer transactions, export mass reached 5.03 billion kilograms – a 10% reduction from Q4 2024’s 5.58 billion kg but a remarkable 348% increase from Q1 2024’s 1.12 billion kg.

“The CIF value stood at ₦21.51 trillion, showing a 19% increase from Q4 2024’s ₦18.07 trillion while remaining stable compared to Q1 2024’s ₦21.58 trillion.

“This data clearly suggestive of Nigeria’s accelerating shift toward bulk commodity exports, with significantly larger shipments being processed through fewer transactions, while maintaining consistent total export value – reflecting both changing trade patterns and improved processing efficiency in our export systems.

” The total trade value handled by the Service in Q1 2025 amounted to

₦36,317,925,576,290.00, demonstrating Nigeria’s substantial participation in international trade despite global economic challenges” CGC Adeniyi declared.

Conversely, the service processed a total of 327,928 Single Goods Declarations (SGDs) for imports, handling goods with a total mass of 4,910,640,283.33 kilograms and a Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) value of ₦14,807,960,201,235.00.

“This represents a 5.28% increase in the number of import transactions compared to the 311,492 SGDs processed in Q1 2024, reflecting growing confidence in our trade facilitation measures.

“The significant 40.14% increase in the mass of imports processed (from 3,504,173,117.33 kg in Q1 2024) demonstrates robust growth in import volumes, while the 26.72% increase in CIF value (from ₦11,685,677,810,129.00 in Q1 2024) indicates a shift towards higher-value goods” the CGC stated.

Customs

Customs realises N1.75 trillion revenue, records 298 seizures worth N7. 7 trillion in three months

Gloria Odion

The Nigeria Customs service has commenced an impressive run towards meeting the 2025 revenue target of N6.5 trillion when it realized a princely sum of N1.75 trillion in the first quarter of the year.

The quarterly revenue haul,which was N106.5 billion more that the quarterly target of N1.6 billion, signals the intention of the service to exceed this year’s revenue target.

Giving an account of the activities of the service on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025, the Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, said the first quarter revenue achieved 106.47 percent of the service projection.

“This outstanding performance represents a substantial 29.96% increase compared to the same period in 2024, where we collected

₦1,347,705,251,658.31.

“Our month-by-month analysis reveals even more encouraging details of this growth trajectory. January’s collection of ₦647,880,245,243.67 not only surpassed its monthly target of ₦548.33 billion by 18.12%, but also showed a remarkable 65.77% year-on-year growth.

” February’s ₦540,105,439,535.18 exceeded its target by 1.3% while achieving 19.97% growth over 2024 figures.

“March maintained this positive trend with ₦563,516,567,519.20, delivering 2.7% above target and an 11.22% improvement over March 2024.

“These results substantiate our effective measures to curb revenue losses while streamlining compliant trade. The 29.96% annual increase and steady monthly collections confirm our strategy is working.

“We’ll maintain this momentum through rigorous enforcement and strengthened partnerships” CGC Adeniyi pledged.

In the same vein, the service recorded an an impressive seizures of contraband and smuggled goods during the period under review.

It intercepted 298 smuggled goods with the Duty Paid Value(DPV) of N7.7 trillion.

“This represents a significant 78.41% increase compared to the ₦4,315,162,568.35 recorded in Q4 2024, demonstrating heightened operational effectiveness.

“However, when compared to Q1 2024’s

₦9,587,256,998.05, the Service observed a 19.70% reduction in DPV,

attributable to improved compliance through sustained stakeholder engagement and the deterrent effect of our enforcement activities.

“Rice remained the most prevalent seized commodity, with 159 cases involving 135,474 bags valued at ₦939,309,698.00.

“Petroleum products followed with 61 seizures totaling 65,819 liters (₦43,336,160.81 DPV).

” Of particular note were 22 narcotics interceptions valued at ₦730,748,173.00, reflecting our intensified focus on combating drug trafficking.

” The Service also recorded three high-value wildlife product seizures with a remarkable ₦5,653,522,600.00 DPV, underscoring both the lucrative nature of this illegal trade and our commitment to environmental protection under international conventions.

“Other notable seizures included textile fabrics (13 cases, ₦134,219,330.00 DPV), retreaded tires (5 cases, ₦104,599,000.00 DPV), and pharmaceuticals (1 case, ₦17,188,000.00 DPV).

“These comprehensive results demonstrate the Service’s vigilance across all categories of prohibited and restricted goods.

Under the same period, the customs processed a total of 327,928 Single Goods Declarations(SGDs) for import while it processed 8,153 export shipments