The Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has contributed ₦3.7 trillion to the federal government’s revenue in just 16 months under the leadership of Area Controller ACG Babatunde Olomu, PhD, while also recording major seizures of prohibited goods including arms, ammunition, expired pharmaceuticals, drones, and communication gadgets. The performance of Apapa Command comes against the backdrop of Nigeria meeting its 2025 revenue target ahead of schedule.
On Tuesday, September 2, President Bola Tinubu announced that the federal government had achieved its non-oil revenue projections by August, reducing reliance on external borrowing. On the same day, the Nigeria Customs Service confirmed that it exceeded its half-year 2025 revenue target by 11.85 percent, collecting ₦3.68 trillion between January and June.
According to the Service’s spokesperson, Dr. Abdullahi Maiwada, the amount represents 55.93 percent of the annual target and exceeded projections for the period by ₦390.1 billion. Officials attributed the performance to the adoption of technology-driven processes designed to block leakages, improve cargo clearance, and reduce human interference. Within this national revenue drive, Apapa Command has been a key contributor.
Since assuming office on May 5, 2024, ACG Olomu has overseen collections totaling ₦3.709 trillion up to July 2025. Monthly revenues ranged from ₦175.1 billion in May 2024 to ₦269.3 billion in January 2025, with consistent contributions averaging over ₦200 billion per month. Alongside revenue performance, the command intensified enforcement, making 75 seizures of contraband over a 15-month period. These included assorted rifles, thousands of rounds of ammunition, expired drugs, codeine syrup, tramadol, used clothing, stolen vehicles, wild animal skins, as well as 60 units of warrior drones without valid end-user certificates, 53 helicopter drones with a duty-paid value of ₦2.1 million, and restricted telecommunication devices such as FM transceiver walkie-talkies. In total, seizures amounted to 62 forty-foot containers and 13 twenty-foot containers, valued at several billions of naira.
The Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, commended ACG Olomu and officers of the Apapa Command for what he described as vigilance and professionalism in disrupting attempts to import prohibited goods, particularly pharmaceuticals and restricted security gadgets. He noted that smugglers have increasingly resorted to concealing pharmaceuticals within general merchandise, cosmetics, and food items, a practice that he said indicates the involvement of organized criminal networks. He warned that if the controlled substances had found their way into circulation, they would have posed a significant threat to national security, citing the risk of such drugs being used by insurgent groups and bandits across the country.
Adeniyi also highlighted the role of collaboration with agencies such as NDLEA, NAFDAC, DSS, and the Office of the National Security Adviser in achieving the seizures, stressing that the Service would continue to strengthen intelligence networks and partnerships to safeguard the country. He urged port users to comply with import regulations and desist from illicit trade. The combined feat of record revenue collection and high-profile seizures underscores the central role of Customs in Nigeria’s fiscal and security frameworks.
With Apapa Command emerging as both the largest revenue contributor and a frontline enforcement unit under ACG Babatunde Olomu, the Service has reinforced its position in the federal government’s non-oil revenue strategy and in safeguarding national security.
