Nigeria Customs Vows No Retreat on B’Odogwu Rollout, Warns on Cyberattacks

By Oluwakemi Kindness

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has reaffirm its commitment to the full deployment of its Unified Customs Management System (UCMS), codenamed *B’Odogwu*.

This is as it warns that recent cyber attacks targeting the platform amount to economic sabotage.

Comptroller General of Customs (CGC) Adewale Adeniyi gave the assurance during a high-level stakeholders’ engagement at the Apapa Area Command, where issues affecting the maritime industry and cargo clearance processes were discussed.

Adeniyi according to a statement by Customs spokesperson Abdullahi Maiwada, says “On *B’Odogwu*, there is no going back. We have to forge ahead with what we have started. We know there will be issues, which is why, before now, we met with some authorised banks, and that engagement has yielded positive results,”.

The CGC stresses that the Service will continue to maintain open communication with industry stakeholders, describing them as “equal partners” in the reform process.

He notes that some operational challenges have already been resolved through joint efforts, with work ongoing on others.

Raising concerns over recent security threats, Adeniyi discloses that several attempts were made over the weekend to infiltrate the Customs digital infrastructure.

“Such nefarious acts constitute economic sabotage, which we will not spare. On our part, we will continue to strengthen our system firewalls to prevent future downtimes,” he warns.

The engagement ended with an interactive session, where stakeholders expressed their perspectives on maritime sector operations and reaffirmed their collective resolve to improve efficiency and transparency in cargo clearance.