Bayo Akomolafe 
Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has decided to put an end to cloning of Customs documents by criminals operating at the ports and borders. The Comptroller General of the service, Col Hameed Ali (rtd), explained that the service was making moves to fight all kinds of sharp practices in the system. According to him, NCS has a forensic department, saying that the service would need more support from other organisations to build and train its officers.
He disclosed this when officials of the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Certified Fraud Examiners of Nigeria (CIFCFEN) visited his office in Abuja for a partnership to investigate all types of crimes and fraud in the service. The comptroller general referred to the arrest of a syndicate that specialised in cloning Customs documents in the Idiroko area of Ogun State, explaining that cloning was one of the biggest issues confronting the service. Besides the cloning, Ali said he was hopeful that the synergy would help to fight all kinds of fraud in Customs.
He noted that the method of detecting crime must be digitalised as most of the crimes are being done digitally. Ali added: “We have to be part and parcel of your organisation, we have been training most of our officers with regards to law enforcement from the military, police schools and we will also make your college one of our most priorities in terms of training.
“I will ask our forensic unit head to synergise with you closely henceforth. We need a lot of things in terms of training and direction from you. We will explore whatever we can do to buttress our unit to raise it to a great level.” The President of the institute and Chairman of the Council, Dr Ilayusu Gashinbaki, who led a delegation to the Customs headquarters, said that the intention of the institute was to appreciate the good work NSC has been doing in terms of appreciable and remarkable height in revenue increase. He said: “The institute has been around for a while, but President Muhammadu Buhari assented to the bill of CIFCFIN’s Charter on the 23rd of December, 2022. The signing of the law is the singular most important legislation signed in the criminal justice space within the past eight years of this administration. It signalled the foundation of scientific investigation activities going forward. “There are three components of the institute and they are, the establishment of the Nigeria College of Forensic and Fraud Investigations, which will be responsible for training, certification, and professional development of law enforcement agencies. Forensic laboratories will focus on forgery. Digital Forensic Laboratory which also will concentrate on the analysis of the entire cyberspace among others.” It would be recalled that last week, the Service at the Federal Operations Unit, Zone A, busted a two-man syndicate that forged Customs clearing documents. Items recovered from the suspects were fake Customs valuation stamp, fake Customs Duty Chart book on vehicles, fake Customs documents and vehicle registration documents, four computer monitors, three computer processing units, one keyboard and one printer. The Acting Controller of the unit, Hussein Ejibunu, said that the arrest of one suspect, Shuaibu Kolo, with a 2007 Mercedes Benz along Ajilete-Idiroko road of Ogun State, led to the unravelling of over 600 pictures of vehicles domiciled in Benin Republic awaiting to undergo forged clearing process by the same criminal syndicates.
