The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has introduced a digital baggage declaration system at the Seme Area Command, a move designed to shorten queues, clarify duty assessments, and speed up clearance for travelers crossing the border. Known as the Simplified Baggage Import Declaration System, the new platform allows passengers to declare personal goods using mobile devices or designated digital kiosks within the command.
The deployment is part of the NCS’s broader modernisation programme, which aims to make border procedures more transparent while improving the experience of legitimate travelers and cross-border traders. The system replaces manual declaration steps that often delayed clearance, offering a more predictable and efficient process.
How the Digital Baggage System Works
Under the new arrangement, passengers submit baggage declarations electronically, eliminating the manual paperwork that previously slowed down the process. The platform applies standardised assessment tables to declared personal goods, calculates applicable duties automatically, and generates receipts once payment is completed, according to Vanguard.
This reduces manual bottlenecks and discretionary assessments, giving passengers a more consistent and transparent way to clear their belongings. The mobile and kiosk options provide two routes for initiating declarations, while automated calculations ensure duty assessments are uniform.
For passengers, the practical change is a clearance process where 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 in duties within the first few days of deployment.
Ayagbalo explained that the automated platform provides a direct, transparent channel for remitting duties to the Federation Account. These 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 enhanced 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. 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,” Kaila said. The command reaffirmed its commitment to transparency and accountability in its operations.
The NCS 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 Nigerians struggling with soaring car prices. Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi confirmed the development while defending the agency’s 2026 budget proposal before the House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise.
