Nigeria’s ports, borders under criminal pressure ahead of 2027 polls — SEREC

The Sea Empowerment & Research Center (SEREC) has raised the alarm over increasing attempts by criminal networks to exploit Nigeria’s ports, land borders and legitimate trade corridors, warning that the country’s frontiers are gradually becoming strategic national-security battlegrounds.

SEREC, in a public policy and security alert signed by its Head of Research, Fwdr Eugene Nweke, commended the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for sustained intelligence-led interceptions of arms, ammunition, illicit drugs, prohibited goods, unreported currency and other sensitive consignments.

The organisation, however, said the frequency and nature of the seizures should no longer be regarded as routine Customs enforcement.

According to SEREC, the recurring interceptions point to attempts by transnational criminal syndicates, arms traffickers, drug cartels, organised smuggling networks and potentially terrorist-linked interests to penetrate or exploit Nigeria’s legitimate trade infrastructure.

It said: “Nigeria’s ports, borders and trade corridors are no longer only economic gateways; they are also strategic national-security frontiers.”

Ports becoming security frontiers

SEREC said every seizure of an illegal weapon or narcotics consignment should be viewed in the context of the wider criminal supply chain that such an interception disrupts.

It argued that an intercepted weapon could represent a weapon denied to a criminal, terrorist or violent extremist network, while a narcotics seizure could constitute the disruption of an international criminal supply chain.

The organisation therefore called on the Federal Government to treat the pattern as a national-security warning requiring deeper intelligence gathering, coordination and preventive action.

“Nigeria cannot afford to wait until illicit arms, ammunition, narcotics, terrorist logistics and criminal finances have successfully penetrated the country before responding,” it warned.

SEREC said the expansion of banditry, terrorism, violent extremism and transnational organised crime within and around West Africa made stronger surveillance of Nigeria’s maritime and land borders imperative.

2027 elections heighten concerns

The organisation also linked the security concerns to the approach of the 2027 general elections.

It warned that election periods could create additional vulnerabilities because of increased political activity, movement of people and goods, illicit financing, proliferation of small arms and light weapons, communal tensions and attempts by criminal elements to exploit political instability.

SEREC urged the Federal Government to intensify intelligence gathering, border surveillance, inter-agency cooperation and preventive security measures ahead of the electoral cycle.

It said the objective should be to ensure that Nigeria’s ports, borders and critical trade corridors do not become supply channels, logistics platforms or financial conduits for terrorism, banditry, organised crime or election-related violence.

Calls for investment in Customs intelligence

SEREC specifically praised the NCS’s increasing emphasis on intelligence gathering, risk profiling, targeted intervention, information analysis and inter-agency collaboration.

It said modern smuggling operations had evolved beyond individuals physically carrying contraband across poorly guarded borders.

According to the organisation, sophisticated criminal enterprises now employ complex supply chains, false documentation, front companies, concealment techniques, multiple transit routes and trade-based financial mechanisms to disguise illicit operations.

It therefore called for increased government investment in advanced Customs intelligence and risk-management systems, secure real-time information sharing, pre-arrival cargo analysis, non-intrusive inspection technologies, maritime and land-border surveillance, data analytics and intelligence fusion.

SEREC also advocated specialised training and improved logistics, welfare and operational support for Customs personnel deployed to sensitive locations.

Freight forwarders, brokers must join security framework

The organisation said the national-security conversation should extend beyond Customs and conventional security agencies to freight forwarders, Customs brokers, bonded terminal operators, shipping companies and logistics firms.

According to SEREC, such operators possess valuable information concerning consignors, consignees, cargo descriptions, documentation, routing and cargo movement.

It said legitimate operators could either be unknowingly exploited by criminal networks because of weak due diligence and inadequate awareness, or, in some cases, knowingly participate in illicit trade.

SEREC therefore proposed a national Port and Border Trade-Security Enlightenment and Compliance Programme for supply-chain stakeholders.

The programme, it said, should cover the identification of suspicious consignments and trade patterns, Know-Your-Customer and Know-Your-Consignor principles, cargo-risk indicators, concealment techniques, suspicious-transaction reporting, cyber and documentary fraud, money-laundering red flags and the legal consequences of facilitating prohibited trade.

It stressed that the objective should not be to criminalise the freight-forwarding and Customs-brokerage professions, but to make legitimate operators an additional layer of vigilance within Nigeria’s supply-chain security architecture.

Shift from Customs versus smugglers

SEREC called for a shift from the traditional concept of “Customs versus smugglers” to a broader model of shared responsibility for secure and legitimate trade.

It noted that Customs officers could not physically monitor every stage of cargo transactions, while security agencies could not independently track every trade document, consignee, consignor, warehouse, bonded facility and logistics movement.

The private sector, it said, must therefore play a greater role in identifying and reporting suspicious activities.

At the same time, enforcement agencies must ensure that intelligence supplied by legitimate businesses is handled professionally and confidentially, without subjecting compliant operators to unnecessary harassment.

Security must not undermine trade

SEREC also warned that stronger border security should not translate into indiscriminate cargo inspections and delays for legitimate traders.

It advocated a risk-based system under which compliant, low-risk cargo moves efficiently while credible intelligence triggers targeted intervention against high-risk consignments.

“The ideal model is a secure border and facilitated trade environment,” the organisation said, arguing that modern Customs technology, intelligence and private-sector participation were essential to achieving that balance.

Inter-agency intelligence fusion

Among its recommendations, SEREC called for stronger intelligence fusion and real-time information sharing among the NCS, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Police Force, immigration authorities, financial-intelligence institutions and other relevant security and regulatory agencies.

It also urged heightened surveillance of maritime and land-frontier routes considered vulnerable to exploitation by terrorist organisations, bandit networks, arms traffickers, drug cartels and transnational organised crime.

The organisation further called for firm action against industry players who knowingly facilitate criminal trade, while protecting legitimate operators who may have been innocently or unknowingly exploited.

SEREC said the NCS should sustain its transition towards intelligence-driven, technology-enabled, risk-based and professionally targeted enforcement while maintaining transparency, accountability and respect for legitimate trade.

‘Strengthen the gate before threat enters’

SEREC described the recurring seizures by Customs as both evidence of operational vigilance and a warning that should not be ignored.

It said criminal networks were continuously probing vulnerabilities in Nigeria’s borders and legitimate trade channels.

“The protection of the nation’s ports and frontiers is no longer solely a Customs responsibility. It is a collective national-security responsibility involving government, security agencies, Customs, the maritime industry, freight forwarders, Customs brokers, bonded operators, financial institutions and the wider trading community,” it said.

The organisation called for greater government backing for the NCS, stronger inter-agency intelligence cooperation, enhanced technology and a more security-conscious trading community.

“As Nigeria approaches another critical electoral cycle, the nation must remain vigilant,” SEREC said.

“Our ports must remain gateways to legitimate commerce—not gateways for terrorism, banditry, organised crime, illicit arms, narcotics or other threats to national stability.

“The time to strengthen the gate is before the threat enters—not after the damage is done.”