The Customs Area Controller of the Apapa Port Command, Comptroller Babatunde Olomu, has reiterated that the Command will sustain its anti-smuggling efforts by deploying intelligence and uncompromising enforcement to prevent the movement of prohibited items into the country.
Comptroller Olomu stated this when he hosted the Director, Inspection and Enforcement Directorate of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Martin Iluyomade, on Monday, August 18, 2025.
This is according to a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Command, SC Tunde Ayagbalo.
During their engagement, Olomu affirmed that renewed antics by smugglers such as using fake registration numbers and false declarations have always failed.
He emphasised that the Command remains committed to the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Comptroller-General of Customs, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, and the Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, aimed at preventing the smuggling of items under the agency’s regulatory purview.
He urged NAFDAC to expedite the evacuation of handed over containers from the port and assured that efforts would be sustained to ensure the arrest of suspects and their handover, alongside the seized items.
The CAC explained that apprehending the individuals involved is a critical step in demobilising the human element within the smuggling supply chain and deterring others from engaging in such illegal activities.
Comptroller Olomu also disclosed that officers under his watch have joined CGC Adeniyi in upholding zero tolerance for smuggling and will do the needful to avoid situations where laws are circumvented for the lives of Nigerians to be endangered by what they eat, drink or by the use of arms and ammunition brought into the country illegally.
He added that the recent seizure of 32 containers, which attracted the personal attention of the CGC — who supervised their handover to NAFDAC attests to the smooth working relationship between both organisations and justifies the recently signed MoU.
On his part, Dr. Iluyomade, who also serves as the Chairman of the Federal Task Force on Fake, Substandard Drugs, and Unwholesome Food, commended Comptroller Olomu for his uncompromising stance and for making what he described as “life saving seizures.”
“You can kill one or two persons with guns, but you can kill a whole nation with fake drugs, unwholesome food, and harmful medicines. It’s like those importing them are declaring war on the citizens of this country,” he said.
Iluyomade described Olomu as the best Controller the Apapa Command has ever had, recounting his early days as a young employee of NAFDAC and acknowledged that Customs’ anti smuggling efforts have evolved for the better.
The Director further stated that the Best Command Award won by the Apapa Port under Olomu’s leadership was truly earned and well-deserved.
He also sought support to secure the handed over containers from being pilfered ahead of NAFDAC evacuation.
