The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has reassigned Hussein Ejigbunu from his position as the Controller of the Federal Operations Unit Zone A in Ikeja, Lagos, moving him to the Customs Headquarters in Abuja.
Taking over his role is Kola Oladeji, previously the Coordinator of Borders Drill Sector 4 in the northwest axis.
Additionally, Ahmadu Shuaibu has been quietly replaced as the Controller of the Ogun 1 Area Command of the NCS; he has been transferred to head the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) in the Kaduna Area Command. James Ojo now assumes the role at Ogun 1 Area Command.
Sources within the NCS revealed that these reassignments were made to reduce attention on the service following investigative reports by ‘Fisayo Soyombo, founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), titled ‘Undercover As A Smuggler’.
However, to safeguard the reputations of Ejigbunu and Shuaibu, their transfers were presented as part of broader organizational changes within the service.
Ejigbunu first gained public attention on February 28, when FIJ reported on the smuggling of motorcycles used by bandits and insurgents, as well as drugs such as tramadol, into northern Nigeria by the NCS, facilitated by Ibrahim Egungbohun Dende, also known as IBD Dende. On March 1, FIJ further reported on an incident where IBD Dende, a prominent smuggler in southwestern Nigeria, threatened to harm an Assistant Superintendent of Customs (ASC) who intervened to stop the smuggling of goods from Benin Republic.
In one of the accompanying videos, Dende can be heard angrily berating the Customs officer, referred to as Rotimi, while boasting about contacting Ejigbunu and Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, the Comptroller-General of Customs.
The videos also confirm FIJ’s report on the streamlined passage of smuggled goods facilitated by the NCS under Ejigbunu’s oversight.
