NCS Deploys Digital Baggage System at Seme, Cuts Passenger Clearance to Under 5 Minutes

By Stella Okocha

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Seme Area Command, has fully deployed a Simplified Declaration System for Passenger Baggage Import, cutting the average clearance time for passenger baggage to less than five minutes.

The initiative is part of the Service’s ongoing efforts to modernise customs operations, improve trade facilitation and make the clearance of passengers and their baggage faster, more transparent and predictable.

Under the new system, passengers can initiate baggage declarations using their mobile devices or complete the process at designated digital kiosks at the Seme Area Command.

The system uses standardised and pre-programmed assessment tables to determine applicable duties on declared personal goods. Once payment is made, receipts are automatically generated, reducing manual intervention and limiting discretionary assessments.

According to the Command, the digital process has already generated ₦10,340,260.02 in revenue from passenger baggage declarations within the first few days of implementation.

NCS said the revenue, generated through an automated declaration and payment process, provides a transparent channel for the collection of duties payable to the Federation Account.

The deployment is also being accompanied by strengthened enforcement measures to ensure that improved passenger facilitation does not undermine border security or compliance with customs regulations.

Through enhanced risk management and intelligence-led controls, the Command said it continues to detect and intercept attempts to conceal commercial quantities of restricted or prohibited goods as passenger baggage.

The Customs Area Controller, Seme Area Command, Comptroller Abdullahi Kaila, said the initiative reflects the commitment of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, PhD, to the use of technology and innovative processes to improve customs operations.

He said the Command would continue to work with relevant stakeholders and sister agencies at the Seme border corridor to facilitate the movement of legitimate passengers and goods while maintaining effective measures against smuggling and other forms of illicit cross-border trade.

The Command urged passengers, cross-border traders and other members of the trading community to take advantage of the simplified declaration system and comply with applicable customs requirements.

It assured legitimate travellers and businesses that the new system would continue to support faster clearance, transparency and accountability while safeguarding national security and protecting the economy.