Customs Deploys Digital Baggage Declaration at Seme, Clearance Drops Below 5 Minutes
By Aboki Forex —
The Nigeria Customs Service has deployed a Simplified Baggage Import Declaration System at the Seme Area Command. The initiative marks a new phase in its drive for digital innovation, trade facilitation and improved passenger clearance processes.
The system is designed to streamline baggage declaration, reduce clearance time and enhance transparency for legitimate travelers and cross border traders. Passengers can now initiate declarations via mobile devices or complete the process at designated digital kiosks within the Command.
How the digital system works
The system applies standardized assessment tables to declared personal goods. It automatically calculates duties and generates receipts upon payment. Customs said this eliminates manual bottlenecks and discretionary assessments, offering a predictable and efficient clearance process.
Early results at Seme
According to the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Tunde Ayagbalo, early results have been striking. Since rollout, the command has recorded an average clearance turnaround time of less than five minutes.
He said: “Within the first few days alone, revenue generated from passenger baggage declarations stood at N10.3 million with the automated system providing a direct and transparent channel for remitting duties to the Federation Account.”
Ayagbalo said the simplified declaration system is being implemented alongside strengthened enforcement measures. He added that enhanced risk management and intelligence led controls continue to intercept attempts to conceal commercial quantities of restricted or prohibited goods as passenger baggage.
Enforcement and modernization
Comptroller Abdullahi Kaila, Area Controller of Seme Command, said: “This deployment is part of our broader modernization agenda. We are determined to improve the passenger experience while safeguarding revenue and national security. Technology is the bridge between facilitation and enforcement.”
The Command emphasized that the initiative reflects the Service’s commitment to transparency and accountability.
What it means for traders and revenue
For importers and cross border traders using Seme, the shift to automated assessment could reduce face to face haggling over duties and shorten time at the border. For the naira, faster and more transparent duty collection at a major land border supports revenue remittance to the Federation Account, though the full impact will depend on how widely the system is adopted.