Nadaniya Confronts Smuggling, Insecurity
The Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone C of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) builds a united front to combat smuggling and insecurity in the South south and South east
By Jude Nzennaya, Port Harcourt
When Deputy Comptroller Farouk Nadaniya arrived Owerri as the new Acting Comptroller of the Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘C’ the powerful enforcement arm of the Nigeria Customs Service covering the South-South and South-East, he knew he was stepping into one of the most challenging terrains as far as Customs operations are concerned in the country.
Both regions have been having challenges of smuggling, kidnappings, crude oil theft and separatist tensions, but Nadaniya knew that although the job needed guns, it needed more friends than guns and so on Friday, October 16, 2026, Nadaniya first chose friendship.
In a move that has been applauded across security circles, the Customs boss began a sweeping courtesy tour of all major security commands in Imo State not to show power, but to seek partnership with a simple message, “No single agency can secure Nigeria alone.”
The tour, in line with the vision of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, who has made inter-agency collaboration the cornerstone of his administration, took Nadaniya to the very heart of Imo’s security architecture.
First Stop at the Imo State Police Command, Commissioner of Police, CP Garba Audu Boss, received him warmly.
Speaking in a frank manner Nadaniya, said, “The Federal Operations Unit is the enforcement arm. Our zone is huge. The security challenges are enormous. My visit is to solicit unity of purpose and inter-agency synergy. The fight against smuggling and crime is a collective responsibility.”
Responding, Boss said, “The Customs and Police are federal agencies with one mandate, national security and protection of lives and property. And as such, we must work together to fight insurgency and other threats.”
It was a handshake that set the tone at the Department of State Services (DSS), as Director Godwin Uche Dunkwu sounded more reassuring, saying, “Despite our different uniforms and statutory mandates, we in Imo work as one family,” while pledging maximum cooperation and support he gave his [Nadaniya’s] predecessor.
The most emotional moment came at the 511 Quick Response Group, Nigerian Air Force Base, Owerri.
Commander Air Commodore SP Sekego told the Customs boss: “Imo is a good state. But we have to secure it as a team. Do you know how we rescued those kidnapped corps members recently? It was not Air Force alone. It was a teamwork of all the agencies.”
He invited Nadaniya to formally join the Imo State Joint Security Team and while at the 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze, Brigade Commander Brigadier General A. Ahmed stressed the same point.
“We must have a common goal, which is peace. We need sustained cooperation, coordination and collaboration. That is the only way we can discharge our mandates effectively,” General Ahmed said.
At the NSCDC Command, the story was the same. The Commandant, also newly posted to Imo, said he was ready to work with Nadaniya.
For years, security agencies in Nigeria have been accused of rivalry and working at cross-purposes each protecting its turf while criminals exploit the gaps.
Nadaniya is changing that narrative in Imo by building Joint Culture. With smugglers now using the same routes as kidnappers and arms dealers, Customs needs the Police’s intelligence, the DSS’s covert reach, the Army’s firepower and the Air Force’s aerial surveillance.
As one senior officer said after the visits, “This new Comptroller gets it. He knows enforcement is no longer about seizures alone, but about synergy.”
The visits ended with promises, handshakes, and photo sessions. But beyond the photos, a new security brotherhood may have just been born in Imo. And for smugglers and other criminal elements operating in the South-South and South-East regions, that is bad news!
