The Acting Comptroller of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A, Deputy Comptroller Oladapo Afeni, FSM, has engaged maritime stakeholders on the South-West trade corridor to strengthen collaboration, improve trade facilitation and promote a more efficient business environment.
Acting Customs Comptroller FOU Zone A DC Oladapo Afeni
The engagement, held at the Unit’s conference hall on Friday, October 2, 2026, provided a platform for stakeholders to discuss challenges affecting legitimate trade and the effective discharge of Customs responsibilities along the maritime corridor. According to a statement issued by the Unit’s Public Relations Officer, Chief Superintendent of Customs Hussaini Abdullahi, the meeting brought stakeholders together with Afeni and his management team to explore ways of improving operational efficiency.
Speaking at the meeting, Afeni emphasised the importance of partnership and constructive engagement between the Service and maritime operators, reaffirming the NCS’s commitment to facilitating legitimate trade while enforcing Customs laws and regulations. He urged stakeholders to make accurate and honest declarations, noting that voluntary compliance and transparency would help reduce clearance delays, disputes and unnecessary bottlenecks.
The Acting Comptroller also stressed that effective trade facilitation required the collective commitment of all participants in the supply chain. He assured stakeholders that the Unit remained willing to address genuine concerns and resolve operational challenges within its mandate while maintaining a professional relationship with the maritime community.
The stakeholders commended Afeni for providing an avenue for dialogue and expressed their readiness to strengthen cooperation with the NCS in promoting compliance, transparency and seamless trade. The engagement, the statement noted, formed part of efforts to strengthen stakeholder relations, enhance revenue assurance, encourage honest declarations and support the Federal Government’s ease-of-doing-business agenda, while sustaining the Service’s fight against smuggling and other cross-border economic crimes.
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