Customs to Deploy Digital Technology at Border to Mitigate Smuggling

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said efforts are being made to stop smuggling by deploying drones and other cutting-edge facilities to the nation’s borders.

Technology would assist in combating the problem, the Public Relations Officer of Customs, Deputy Comptroller Timi Bomodi recently in Abuja.

He claimed that using “technology like drones, non-intrusive inspection at the borders, and a lot of other things that are in the pipeline” was one of the key initiatives in that area.

Bomodi said progress had been made with regard to the concession agreement or modernization agreement with Huawei company and other technical partners in that regard.

The Customs spokeswoman claimed that the boundaries were too vast to be adequately covered by manpower, in response to calls in some quarters for the deployment of more personnel at the borders.

“If all members of the military and paramilitary in Nigeria were to walk hand in hand across all of our borders, you would only be able to reach 10% of them.”

That illustrates how big our nation is and how challenging the environment in which we work. Nevertheless, we know that adding technology to the mix will enable us to accomplish much more.”

He asserts that although there is no question that the service intends to keep hiring new employees, none of them will have the desired impact. “We know that the kind of influence that will go a very long way will be made by the technology deployed to serve these persons.”

Bomodi spoke about the need for increased funds for the agency to develop its initiatives for reducing crime and generating more income to carry out its duties.

We are discussing innovation in the type of service we offer, and it was very expensive.

We are talking about the welfare of officers, which comprises the provision of adequate accommodation, adequate transportation, proper offices, and a myriad of other things.

“Even vehicles that help them operate under all kinds of terrains in all kinds of environments.“All these things cost money and we cannot say no to that because the more we can get the more we will achieve,” he said.