In a strategic move to enhance border security, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced the deployment of an INTERPOL Data Centre at its headquarters in Abuja.
The Centre will provide Customs officers with access to one of the world’s largest criminal intelligence networks.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, CGC Adewale Adeniyi, made the disclosure during a demonstration of the facility, describing it as a major milestone in the Service’s technology-driven transformation and intelligence-led enforcement strategy.
CGC Adeniyi stated that Customs enforcement has evolved beyond conventional compliance, with technology now playing a central role in combating transnational crime.
He stressed that the planned signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with INTERPOL would further deepen cooperation between the two organisations.
The CGC also highlighted the Service’s indigenous B’Odogwu platform, describing it as an innovative digital solution that can support trade facilitation in Nigeria and across other African customs administrations.
INTERPOL Consultant Chikwe Udensi confirmed that the facility is the eighth INTERPOL Data Centre in Africa and provides Customs officers with access to more than 152 global criminal databases covering stolen vehicles, vessels, cargo, parcels and other transported assets.
Udensi explained that the platform enables officers to instantly verify whether goods or transport assets have been reported stolen anywhere in the world, thereby strengthening investigations, border security and revenue generation through real-time intelligence.
In his remarks, the Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of Enforcement, Investigation and Inspection, Timi Bomodi, disclosed that officers have already been trained to operate the system, which has been fully integrated into the Service’s ICT infrastructure.
DCG Bomodi noted that the platform also enhances cargo profiling, valuation and risk assessment by providing accurate information on the description and origin of goods.
