The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said that it surpassed its revenue target for the first half of 2024, raking in a total revenue of N2.74 trillion.

The announcement was contained in a statement by the spokesman of NCS, Abdullahi Maiwada, on Monday while giving the mid-year performance report of the service.

He said that although the service had a revenue target of N2.54trn, it raked in N2.74trn, surpassing the target by 8 per cent and marking a 127 per cent increase over the previous year's revenue.

The statement reads in part: "A breakdown of the revenue in the quarter under review showed that N1.395trn was collected for the second quarter, exceeding the quarterly target by 10 per cent and representing a 131 per cent increase over Q2 2023.

"Key initiatives contributing to the success include the e-auction platform which generated over N1.34bn and the 90-day duty payment window for un-customed vehicles, adding N4.37bn to the revenue. These measures have significantly enhanced transparency, compliance and efficiency in customs processes."

Maiwada added that customs intensified its anti-smuggling operations in the first half of 2024, resulting in notable achievements.

He said, "From January to June, 2024, the NCS made 2,442 seizures with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N25.5bn, which is 203 per cent higher than the DPV of seizures in the first half of 2023. In the second quarter of 2024, the NCS made 1,334 seizures with a DPV of about N17.6bn, representing a 121 per cent increase over the first quarter of 2024.

"The top items seized include wildlife items, vehicles, arms and ammunition, foreign rice, pharmaceuticals and narcotics; with 32 suspects in custody."

He added that despite the feats achieved, there were challenges which were impacting the consistency of revenue collection and overall operational efficiency.

To address the challenges and enhance revenue collection, he said the service had implemented several strategies, including real-time system auditing, post-clearance audits, verification of documents for the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), ensuring compliance with import guidelines and the implementation of a pilot test for the Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) scheme.