Nigeria Customs Launches Digital Baggage Import Declaration System to Drive Innovation
- Nigeria Customs launches a digital baggage declaration system at Seme, letting travellers declare goods by phone or kiosk
- Customs reports clearance times below five minutes and ₦10.3 million in baggage duty revenue during the rollout’s first days
- Risk-based checks will target restricted goods and commercial quantities as Customs balances faster clearance with revenue and security
PAY ATTENTION: Mark Legit.ng as a preferred source, and our content will appear higher in your Google feed!
Pascal Oparada is a journalist with Legit.ng, covering technology, energy, stocks, investment, and the economy for over a decade.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has introduced a digital baggage declaration system at the Seme Area Command, promising shorter queues, clearer duty assessments and faster clearance for travellers.
Known as the Simplified Baggage Import Declaration System, the initiative allows passengers to declare personal goods using mobile devices or designated digital kiosks within the command.
Source: Facebook
Customs said the deployment forms part of its modernisation programme, aimed at making border procedures more transparent while improving the experience of legitimate travellers and cross-border traders.
How the digital baggage system works
Under the new arrangement, passengers submit baggage declarations electronically, replacing manual steps that can delay clearance.
The platform applies standardised assessment tables to declared personal goods, calculates applicable duties automatically and generates receipts once payment is completed, Vanguard reported.
According to the command, this reduces manual bottlenecks and discretionary assessments, giving passengers a more predictable process for clearing their belongings.
The mobile and kiosk options provide two routes for initiating declarations, while automated calculations are intended to make duty assessments more consistent.
For passengers, the practical change is a clearance process in which declarations, assessments and payment receipts are handled digitally. The command said this approach supports accountability by providing a transparent channel for collecting and remitting duties on declared baggage.
Customs reports clearance below five minutes
The command’s Public Relations Officer, Tunde Ayagbalo, said early results showed an average clearance turnaround time of less than five minutes since the rollout.
He also disclosed that passenger baggage declarations generated ₦10.3 million within the first few days of deployment.
Ayagbalo said the automated platform provides a direct, transparent channel for remitting duties to the Federation Account.
The figures represent the command’s initial assessment of the system’s performance as it seeks to combine quicker passenger processing with improved revenue collection.
Faster clearance comes with stronger checks
Customs said the simplified procedure is being introduced alongside stronger enforcement measures to prevent abuse.
Enhanced risk management and intelligence-led controls remain in place to detect attempts to disguise commercial quantities of restricted or prohibited goods as passenger baggage.
The command stressed that easier declarations would operate alongside checks designed to protect revenue and national security.
Source: UGC
Comptroller Abdullahi Kaila, Area Controller of Seme Command, described the deployment as part of the service’s broader modernisation agenda.
“We are determined to improve the passenger experience while safeguarding revenue and national security. Technology is the bridge between facilitation and enforcement,” he said.
The command reaffirmed its commitment to transparency and accountability.
Nigeria Customs confirms slash in import duty on cars
Legit.ng earlier reported that the federal government has officially reduced import duties on both used (Tokunbo) and brand-new vehicles, a move expected to lower the cost of vehicle imports and provide relief for millions of Nigerians struggling with soaring car prices.
The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adewale Adeniyi, confirmed the development while defending the agency's 2026 budget proposal before the House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise.
Source: Legit.ng
