Maritime Agencies
TRADE FACILITATION: Nigeria Customs Pre-Launches ‘B’Odogwu’ In Lagos.
By Izuchukwu Ozoemena
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has unveiled her strategic deployment of ‘B’Odogwu,’ a special trade modernization tool whose implementation is aimed at deepening efficient and effective trade processes across the board in line with international best practices.
The event which was attended by many stakeholders took place in Lagos, Monday, for the Apapa and Tincan Island ports.
The flag-off of a successful pilot stage of the ‘B’Odogwu’, it is recalled, took place at the PTML Command earlier in 2024, signaling a new dimension and a major shift in how cargo clearance and trade operations are conducted across the nation’s busiest seaports.
Speaking during the pre-launch and stakeholders’ engagement in Lagos, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, said the event was only a phase in the deployment process designed to climax to a full-scale launch of a carefully planned process in trade facilitation and other operational areas which must respond to the realities of the moment.
“It is a pre-launch, not a full launch, because we are deploying it at a bigger Command,” the CGC explained.
Emphasizing the importance of timing, the CGC stated that the move was part of the broader modernization agenda which has a collaborative engagement with industry stakeholders as an integral part.
The decision to conceptualize and develop B’Odogwu as a homegrown trade facilitation initiative, he clarified, became necessary in order to address long-standing inefficiencies and frustrations experienced under the previous Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System (NICIS).
“The new company took into account the history of frustrations we have had with the NICIS. So, we decided to start over to develop a new system that would address all the delays and frustrations of the past. So, we came up with B’Odogwu, which is homegrown,” he said.
The Comptroller-General described B’Odogwu as a uniquely Nigerian initiative, with its name embodying the strength and leadership that the system aims to bring to customs operations.
”B’ stands for ‘Border,’ and ‘Odogwu’ signifies strength and leadership in African, particularly Nigerian, parlance,” Adeniyi explained.
He acknowledged that transiting to a new system of this magnitude would come with challenges but reassured stakeholders that the Customs is prepared to tackle any obstacles and challenges.
“A project of this magnitude would not be a walk in the park. We had some challenges during the pilot phase at PTML, we have addressed some and carried over some. We are not going to wait until all the challenges are solved, but with your cooperation, we will resolve all,” he told stakeholders present.
A major breakthrough in the deployment of B’Odogwu is its full integration with commercial banks for the processing of Form ‘M’—a critical requirement for import documentation and trade facilitation in Nigeria.
Adeniyi confirmed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed all authorized dealer banks to integrate with the platform, ensuring seamless financial transactions for importers and exporters.
“At PTML, we have integrated CBN. The CBN boss, at a meeting with us recently, has instructed all authorized dealer banks to queue into B’Odogwu, and they would all be opening Form M for you,” he announced.
Additionally, he assured stakeholders that communication channels would remain open to provide regular updates on the system’s operation and address concerns as they arise.
In her comments, Kikelomo Adeola, Deputy Comptroller-General in charge of IT and Modernization, restated that the system was reliable and efficient. She assured stakeholders that lessons from the PTML pilot phase are being applied to strengthen B’Odogwu’s functionality.
“We have resolved teething issues following B’Odogwu’s test-run at PTML as the pilot command. We have equally carried out training of agents, terminal operators, among others, on why the effective usage of the platform is crucial,” Adeola said.
Maritime Agencies
Seme Customs Raids Hideouts, Impounds 200 Bags of Smuggled Rice, Collects N2bn 3 Weeks into 2026.
By Izuchukwu Ozoemena
The Customs Area Controller (CAC), Seme Border Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, Comptroller Adewale Adenuga has vowed a continuous raid of the Badagry Roundabout and other notorious points where miscreants assemble and sell smuggled rice.
Just as the Command is taking the fight to smugglers in their routes inside the bush, he explained, it has equally sustained surveillance on other identified distribution points of the smuggled goods in market places.
Consequent upon this, Adenuga disclosed that the anti- smuggling officers of the command raided the selling point of smuggled rice at the Badagry market on January 21st, 2026 where they impounded over 200 bags of smuggled rice.
The CAC disclosed this at Seme Command, Wednesday, while exchanging views with the Tunde Ayodele-led Executive members of the Caretaker Committee of the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) who were on a courtesy visit.
” We have just raided the Badagry Roundabout where these smuggled rice are being assembled and sold.
” We had on several occasions warned them to desist from this act and leave the place.
”We have even asked the Oba of Badagry on my last visit to his palace before his death to appeal to these people to vacate the point of sale of the smuggled rice”
” They will smuggle the rice through the creeks and then will now come to that place and be selling.
”So if you go there now, you’ll see that it has been cleared” Comptroller Adenuga explained.
On revenue generation, he announced that few weeks into 2026, the Seme Command has maintained the high momentum of generation it had in 2025 as it has collected about 2 billion in the first three weeks of the new year. His men and officers, he maintained, are fired up to surpass the revenue figures recorded last year.
It is recalled that Seme Command recorded the sum of N15.6 billion in 2025 with N3.6billion of the total revenue collected in the month of December.
He maintained that with the continuous support of the Comptroller – General, Wale Adeniyi and his management team, Seme border will continue to sustain the momentum that propelled the officers into 2026.
While pledging to cooperate with MARAN on mutually -beneficial programmes Adenuga promised that Seme Command would maintain a steady course on revenue generation and will never ease the step on the anti- smuggling pedal in the new year.
Earlier in his address, MARAN Caretaker Committee Chairman, Mr Tunde Ayodele, congratulated the Controller on his assumption of duties as the head of Seme command, a feat he said was a testament to his rising profile as a committed customs officer and a reflection of the confidence of the management of the NCS in his managerial acumen to head the busiest border command of the Customs.
Ayodele assured Comptroller Adenuga of the support and collaboration of MARAN to ensure that he succeeds in his assignment.
The MARAN Caretaker Chairman noted that the association has noted with keen interest the vibrancy and transformation in the border operations at Seme which Comptroller Adenuga has brought within the short time he assumed duties.
”We are not surprised at the level of transformation and burst of activities you brought to Seme border operations, given your performance trajectory from your previous duty posts, especially at the Apapa Command where you were the unseen hands in the unprecedented revenue generation witnessed at the Customs’ flagship command when you were DC revenue” the MARAN chief recalled.
Meanwhile, the Comptroller- General of NCS, Adewale Adeniyi, has paid a condolence visit to the palace of Oba of Badagry through Comptroller Wale Adenuga.
According to Adenuga, he went to the palace of the late King on January 21st, 2026 on behalf of CGC Adeniyi to commiserate with the people and chiefs of Badagry Kingdom on the death of their first class monarch.
By Izuchukwu Ozoemena
The $1.5 billion Lekki Deepsea Port which commenced operations in April 2023 with a capacity to process about 1.2 million cargoes annually continues to receive commendation for various operational milestones it has achieved within so short a time. Parading the draught of 16.5 metres, the deepest of ports under the superintendence of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), it sits on a 19- hectare land area.
So far, the Lekki Deepsea Port has successfully transhipped over 62,000 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) to various West African countries; its smart port model is unique in Nigeria while the short turnaround time for vessels stands at just 2 days. The physical layout of the Port has a 2 kilometres breakwater ridge which calms the waves from the harbour with a 9.6 kilometre channel providing the way for the 4 tug boats used by the Port to bring in the large vessels that drop cargoes.
The Port has a 680m quay length, with a breakwater of 2km for the Phase 1 operations. Upon expansion to Phase 2, the quayway will be extended to 1,500m, and the depth will become minus 19.5meters in the near future.
The Port’s development was made possible through a 45-year Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) model from the NPA.
The scanners only need about 33 seconds to scan a container as soon as the 5 gantry (ship to shore cranes) have done the usual evacuation. The stacking method follows the 7 wide , 6 heights system. Moving à container from ship to shore takes a maximum of 3 minutes and presently, about 20% of the cargoes are evacuated through barges. The Port’s integrated automated operations makes business easier for port users.
From January to August 2025, the port recorded 88,432 TEU imports, 123,013 TEU exports, 62,581 TEU transshipment moves, 16,925 TEU restows, and 34,710 TEU barge movements with a projection to handle over 500,000 TEUs by end of 2025. Transshipment already represents 38 per cent of total activity, signalling the port’s growing hub status.
Mr Emmanuel Anda, the Lekki Port Manager, has been commended for contributing to improve operational services at the port . This has seen the Port engage in various innovative operational methods involving the transshipment of cargoes. The Port has evolved into a strategic maritime gateway, reshaping the logistics landscape of West Africa and opening new corridors for trade and industrial ambition across the continent.
The port facility includes three container berths, three liquid bulk berths and one dry bulk berth. The dry bulk and liquid terminal operations are in view. The Port is presently operating at about 50% of its designed capacity. Barge operations currently account for 20% of cargo movement, but rail connectivity is essential for long-term efficiency, particularly with the Lekki Free Zone’s industrial activities.
Lekki Port’s technological design integrates automated gates, OCR systems, ship-to-shore cranes, rubber- tyred gantry cranes, FS 6000 drive-through scanners, truck parks, and advanced control systems.
Its berth productivity averages 18 to 20 moves per hour, with truck turnaround time at approximately 45 minutes and container dwell time at 12 to 13 days. The Port is currently Nigeria’s second-largest terminal.
In agreement with the NPA, Mr Emmanuel Anda, Lekki Deepsea Port’s Manager, admits that the transformational impact has recalibrated West Africa’s maritime geography.
“For the first time, Nigeria is handling ultra-large vessels efficiently; Lekki is deepening Nigeria’s presence on global shipping routes and strengthening our maritime competitiveness. He said that the port was significantly boosting export activity, helping Nigeria approach a healthier balance of trade.
”The continued progression could see Lekki become a global export hub within 10 to 15 years”. Mr. Anda added.
Road infrastructure upgrades are ongoing, and the planned Lagos Green Line rail connection will significantly boost cargo evacuation and accessibility.
In the wider West African theatre, where the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is opening unprecedented opportunities, Lekki Deep Sea Port offers something rare: scale, speed and unmatched efficiency.
Amid capacity constraints in neighbouring countries and rising demand for deep-water logistics, Lekki gives Africa a competitive edge. On an ordinary day, containers rise like a new skyline, cranes swing rhythmically over the quayside, and massive ships glide into position. Beneath the mechanical precision is something more profound: a new economic centre is being born on the Nigerian coastline.
Presently, exports are surpassing imports, there is free-flowing cargo movement in and out of the seaports and Dangote Refinery, plus port automation—including marine operations like the 4 tugboats and efficient barging—the story centres on seamless activities within the pilotage district.
With great enthusiasm, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola has said the Federal Government estimates that more than 170,000 direct and indirect jobs would be created over the 45-year concession period including revenue contributions of 158 billion dollars, alongside 361 billion dollars in GDP impact from the project.
Maritime Agencies
OGUN AREA 1 CUSTOMS: Suspected Armed Drug Traffickers Mount Barricades, Attack Officers. Two Personnel Critically Injured.
By Izuchukwu Ozoemena
The Ogun Area 1 Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), has confirmed
a violent attack on its officers by suspected armed drug traffickers during an anti-smuggling operation at Akokoro area of Iwoye, Imeko-Afon Local Government Area of Ogun State, on Thursday, 22 January 2026, at about 1600 hours. Zakari Chado, the Ogun Area 1 Command image maker stated this in a release, Sunday.
The incident, he explained, occurred while officers of the Command, acting on 1credible intelligence, intercepted a 12-tyre truck suspected to be conveying a large consignment of illicit drugs and other prohibited items. Before reinforcement teams could arrive, the suspects mobilised a large number of armed hoodlums and launched a coordinated attack on the patrol team.
In a deliberate effort to obstruct law enforcement, the attackers mounted heavy barricades at about nine (9) strategic points to block access routes, preventing timely reinforcement. They opened fire on the officers and disabled a Customs patrol vehicle by shooting out its tyres, creating a volatile and dangerous operational environment.
During the exchange, two officers of the Nigeria Customs Service sustained gunshot injuries and are currently in critical condition, receiving intensive medical care. Exploiting the multiple barricades, the smugglers fled the scene with the intercepted truck. Investigation has commenced to identify, track, and apprehend all those involved in the attack.
Reacting to the incident, the Acting Customs Area Controller of the Ogun I Area Command, Deputy Comptroller Olukayode Afeni, condemned the act as barbaric and reaffirmed that such violent resistance will not deter the Command or the Service from discharging its statutory mandate to combat smuggling and protect national security.
He further called on traditional rulers and community leaders within the Command’s area of responsibility to caution their subjects against smuggling and attacks on security personnel, warning that offenders will face the full weight of the law.
The Acting Customs Area Controller assures law-abiding members of the public of their safety and reiterates the Nigeria Customs Service’s unwavering commitment to border security, public health, and the enforcement of the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023.
Seme Customs Raids Hideouts, Impounds 200 Bags of Smuggled Rice, Collects N2bn 3 Weeks into 2026.
Lekki Deepsea Port: The Success Story of the Nigerian Ports Authority.
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