Nigeria Customs adopts AI tools to tackle online scams, fake news
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has begun efforts to tackle the spread of fake news and online scams that damage its image through the integration of digital data-tracking and intelligence tools.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this on Friday, October 30, 2026, at the Neccipr Roundtable 2026 held in Lagos, with the theme, “Algorithm Influence and Public Relations”.
Represented by the Service’s National Public Relations Officer, Deputy Comptroller Abdullahi Maiwada, Adeniyi said effective communication was essential to ensuring that the public understood and accepted the reasons behind the actions of Customs officers.
Maiwada said artificial intelligence was central to the work of public relations officers, particularly in information classification and risk management, including the assessment of risks associated with imported goods.
He added that AI could also help the Service analyse public sentiment and understand how people perceived its activities. According to him, the NCS was using available platforms to establish facts and working with other agencies to apprehend those responsible for spreading misleading information.
Earlier, the convener of the roundtable, Nkechi Ali-Balogun, said the programme was founded on the belief that public relations professionals must go beyond managing messages to shaping national discourse. “This year, we confront a question that touches every one of us. When machines decide what we see, who is really shaping the Nigerian mind?” she said.
She said the growing influence of artificial intelligence and digital algorithms had raised concerns about who controlled the information Nigerians consumed and how it shaped public opinion.
The event also featured keynote addresses by the President and Chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Ike Neliaku, and former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, among other dignitaries.
