Senior Customs Officers Allegedly Involved In Multi-billion Naira Corruption Scandal

EKO HOT BLOG reports that some senior officials of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) have been allegedly enmeshed in a multi-billion naira corruption scandal.

At least 40 senior Customs officers have been indicted in a robust investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) into the proceeds of bribes paid to customs officials by smugglers.

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At least seven of these officials were detained by the EFCC for days late last year, with some of them spending the festive period in detention when proceeds of bribes allegedly from smugglers totalling over N12 billion were traced to them, according to Premium Times.

The news platform said all seven of them were not prosecuted and have been allowed back to their duty posts. It added that at least seven high-ranking officials of the NCS were grilled by the anti-graft agency, and parts of the bribes they received were confiscated.

Customs insiders and other sources familiar with the matter told the newspaper that the officers were found to own properties and businesses way above what their earnings as customs officers could cater for.

This newspaper learned that the EFCC’s investigation also involves at least 33 other officers of the service.

According to a source, some of these officials amassed the largest tranche of these bribes from smugglers last year after the directive to close the Nigeria-Niger border as part of ECOWAS sanctions against the military junta that deposed Nigerien President, Mohamed Bazoum.

“The smugglers pay bribes directly or through agents designated accounts of the NCS officials,” the source said.

He stated that most of the officers detained operate in Zone B, which operates in more than half the borders that Nigeria shares with the Niger Republic in Sokoto, Katsina, Kano, and Jigawa states.

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Six of the seven identified officers worked in Zone B, while one officer, to whom more than 80 per cent of the N12 billion was traced, works in Zone C, Port Harcourt.

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