The Nigerian customs service (NCS) is an independent agency and they are supervised by the Nigerian ministry of Finance. Responsibility of the NCS is to collect custom revenue on behalf of the Nigerian government and to also prevent smuggling of any kind.
The agency was founded in 1891. Before it became an independent agency, it was operating under the Nigeria Police Force. The very first Director-General of Customs was T.A Wall, a foreigner. The agency began as an Inland Revenue collector in the Niger Coast Protectorate. This was later transformed in 1981 to Department of Customs and Excise.
Initially, the NCS was divided into 5 directorates. It was later increased to 6. The vagarious departments are Investigation and Inspection Department, Economic Relating Research and Planning, Enforcement and Drugs, Excise and Industrial Incentives, Tariff and Trade and Finance, Administration and Technical Services departments.
There are 3 departments and 4 zones under the NCS. These departments and zones cover up to 25 area commands spread across Nigeria. The agency now uses Computer Based Test to conduct recruitment examination and this was first done in 2015.
The Minister of Finance chairs the NCS board and the board is responsible for controlling the activities of the agency and also deciding on its modes of operation. The agency is responsible for issuing international passport to Nigerians. They equally contribute to security operation at Nigerian seaports and airports.
The Nigerian immigrations service headquarters is at Abidjan Street, Wuse, P.M.B. 26, Zone 3, Abuja-FCT, Nigeria. Their telephone numbers are 09 4621597, 4621598 and 4621599. Email addresses are info@customs.gov.ng and pro@customs.gov.ng.