By Saheed Ibrahim
“Those are my information (ID card and pictures) I just sent to you. I know you don’t know me and I don’t know you. It is only God that knows us. And I am giving you an assurance that you should not worry about anything. With God, all things are possible. We are going to get the vehicle without any problem.”
The Customs officer, who introduced himself through his identity card as Momoh Phillips, a Deputy Comptroller in the Nigeria Customs Service, said in a calm voice. We should be convinced enough with his voice and reference to God that I could buy a vehicle that is worth between N5 million and N15 million for N2.2 million on Facebook. Given that we are talking to a high-ranking officer in the Nigeria Customs Service, we should believe all he said.
Our encounter with this soft-spoken ‘Customs officer’ began on Facebook, a social media page that has turned into a marketing platform, given its strong level of connectivity. Some of the highly covetous goods advertised on the platform in recent times are Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) auctioned vehicles and bags of rice for very low prices. Given the current economic crisis in Nigeria that has shot the price of rice to N80,000 per bag and vehicles of N1.2 million in 2022 are sold for above N8 million, a desperate person will jump at the offers.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) was established in 1981 and is responsible for revenue collection, accounting for same and anti-smuggling activities. The NCS is also empowered to auction off seized and overdue goods. On Facebook, there are several accounts, pages and groups claiming to belong to the auction department of the Nigeria Customs Service. Using Crowdtangle, there are 292,335 interactions and 2,322 posts related to “Nigeria Customs Service,” and 61,668 interactions and 741 posts related to “Nigeria Customs Service Auction” from August 2023 to 2024. These search results excluded posts and interactions from the NCS’s verified Facebook account.
Screenshots from Crowdtangle search results.
In addition to seized vehicles and food items, the numerous NCS auctioning accounts also advertise recruitment into the agency. The Facebook accounts have NCS staff emblems, pictures, videos, and identity cards. Phone numbers of officers to call to buy the advertised “auction goods” are added. They also have email addresses and locations where interested people can contact them to buy the goods.
For instance, the Nigeria Customs Service Auction Announcement posted on July 25, 2024, that the Nigeria Customs Service has commenced auctioning vehicles and rice. Despite the price of a bag of rice in Nigeria being about N80,000, the account put a price tag of N25,000.
The Facebook account also claims the vehicles are impounded due to smuggling and improper registration. It advertised a Toyota Land Cruiser for N6.5 million and a Toyota Camry for N650,000 to N1 million. Interested buyers must pay for vehicle documents before delivery and should contact +2348165045067. The accounts also use ‘government organisation’ or “Federal Government Approved” in their descriptions and have reviews and testimonies.
How true are these Facebook accounts, the handlers and the goods they advertise? DUBAWA conducted this investigation to find out.
Grammatical Errors
In addition to the multiple accounts, we observed that there are several grammatical errors in their posts, which are not expected from an official channel of a government organisation like the NCS. For instance, “Customs” in Nigeria Customs Service is spelt “Custom” by many of them. One of the accounts posted, “Public announcement to everyone the Nigeria custom service authority has commence the auctioning of vehicles @ rices (sic).”
Similar profile pictures across different accounts
We also found that some of the accounts have similar photographs under different names. For instance, Public Customs E-Auction, Nigeria Custom Services E-Auction New, Nigeria custom auctions of impounded vehicles are bags of Rice, Nigeria Customs Services Auctions Vehicles, Adesanmi Omiye, and Balogun Emmanuel use the same man as their profile pictures.
Source: Balogun Emmanuel and Simon Pasom
Job advertisements
We also found that some of the accounts advertised job recruitment into the NCS. In the comment section of a recruitment post made by Customs Service Auction Announcement on August 2, 2024, Danjuma Pai expressed interest and was directed to call 07063750618. This is untypical of the NCS recruitment process, which is done through the agency’s website.
However, The NCS warned the public against falling victim to fraudsters advertising recruitment jobs on social media. The helplines released by the NCS are 07037891156, 0201889889, and 02018898888.
Who are those behind the Facebook Accounts?
We approached three of the suspicious accounts claiming to represent the NCS’s e-auction service via WhatsApp in the guise of purchasing their products. We contacted Nigeria Custom Services via 08026414704, with an acclaimed office at Idiroko Border in Ogun State. This was how I met the self-acclaimed Deputy Comptroller of the Nigeria Customs Service, Momoh Phillips.
The handler sent 33 pictures of different vehicle brands with prices ranging from N2.2m to N3.6m, even though the market value of the cars on Cars45 was between N5m and N14m. We negotiated and agreed to pay N3.2m for a vehicle. The handler asked for a clearance payment of N155,650 before the vehicle was delivered, and DUBAWA would pay the balance after delivery. It is suspicious for the NCS to deliver auctioned vehicles to people without full payment.
He asked for personal details to submit to management, and after about an hour, he said management had approved the purchase. He directed that the money be sent to his Financial Secretary, Saviour Joshua, UBA; 2336281335, which is not an official account of any government agency.
Information form and bank account details sent to DUBAWA
When told that the deal might be fraudulent, the account sent identity cards named Momoh Philip with the rank of Deputy Comptroller and service number 59465. The date of birth on the ID card reads 4/2/1988, but the man in the picture looks older than a 36-year-old. The account also sent a voice note to prove the e-auction was real, revealing that the person behind the account was a man. He claimed he sent his secretary’s account number because the NCS’s bank account was having an issue.
ID card and picture sent by NIGERIA CUSTOM SERVICES to DUBAWA
We also approached Nigeria Customs Service E-Auction ncs via 08134858367. The Page Transparency of the account shows that it was created on March 15, 2024. The displayed WhatsApp name shows MR SIMON PASOM.
The account pegged the auction price for a Toyota Corolla car at N850,000. He sent his office address as: “2025A Badagry Express, Seme Border Command, Lagos/Seme Border Tariff and Trade Office, Lagos State. Seme Boarder Zone A Command Badagry Expressway, opposite Coin Oil Badagry.” The address was not found on Google Maps, except Badagry Expressway. The Nigeria Customs Service Seme Command address can be found on its website.
The account also demanded N55,000 to clear the vehicle before it would be delivered to DUBAWA for full payment. The account details sent read: “financial secretary account. Account name: Success Adaugo Ugochukwu – UBA: 2304998863.
When told that DUBAWA was sceptical about the deal, he also sent his identity cards, showing Simon Pasom, an Assistant Deputy Comptroller with service number 48731.
ID card sent by Mr Pasom to DUBAWA.
The image on the card matches the profile pictures of Public Customs E-Auction, Nigeria Custom Services E-Auction New, and Nigeria Custom auctions of impounded vehicles, which are bags of Rice. DUBAWA searched the name Simon Pasom on Facebook and found multiple accounts (over 50) with pictures of the same man.
The third account, Nigeria Customs Service, said its office is at Seme Border and put a N900,000 auction price on a Toyota Camry. It declined when told someone would be sent down to assess the vehicle. We analysed the phone numbers used by the syndicate and found the names attached to two of the lines.
+234 813 485 8367– Jimoh Suberu (Mr Simon Pasom)
+234 913 745 9548— Joseph Davison Joe (Nigeria Customs Service)
We presented the names to the two suspected fraudsters, but none of them responded to our chats again.
DUBAWA challenged the three accounts with the evidence and requested a video call. NIGERIA CUSTOM SERVICES and Nigeria Customs Service blocked us. The former also deleted his chats.
Screenshots of chats with the suspected fraudsters
However, Mr Simon Pasom picked up the video call but covered his camera and ended the call at 9 seconds. DUBAWA presented the name Jimoh Suberu, which is attached to its number. The account did not reply again but earnestly deleted messages on the chat and blocked DUBAWA.
Unknown to them, we have exported the chats, which can be accessed on our online version of this story.
We don’t advertise on social media – NCS
We visited the verified NCS Facebook page to see if the agency advertises auctioned goods on social media. DUBAWA found a July 16, 2024, statement warning members of the public that the NCS does not auction goods on social media. The NCS stated that auctions of seized/overtime goods are never conducted via any social media platform, and such claims should be treated as fraudulent and promptly reported. NCS added that “the only portal for e-auction in NCS is https://auction.nigeriatradehub.gov.ng.”
DUBAWA visited the Nigeria Customs Service website under the auction section to check the procedures for bidding on auctioned goods and found that no auction is ongoing as of August 1, 2024.
We are prosecuting fraudsters – NCS PRO
DUBAWA contacted the National Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Nigeria Customs Service, Abdullahi Maiwada. Reacting to our findings, Mr Maiwada confirmed that the NCS was aware of the activities of the fraudsters and the organisation is working to arrest those impersonating the NCS on social media.
He said that many of the impersonators used pictures and names of top officials of NCS and the organisation had arrested and prosecuted some of them. The NCS PRO added that his organisation also constantly puts out disclaimers to alert the public of the activities of the fraudsters.
“We have those we have prosecuted. Every now and then, whenever we see, we report. In fact, there’s a website we pulled down because we wrote to the hosting site and they pulled them down,” he said.
Mr Maiwada further told DUBAWA that an officer was dismissed for engaging in fraudulent practice.
“We have even dismissed. There was somebody who was found to be on it, and he was dismissed. That was the only case we had a Customs officer (involved),” he said.
He added that the Nigeria Customs Service will continue to check the activities of the impersonators and sensitise the public on who to deal with and the right channels to use.
Maiwada told DUBAWA that he had shared our findings with the Comptroller, Customs Police. The Nigeria Customs Police was created in 2018 as a watchdog for the Nigeria Customs Service.
This investigation was produced for the DUBAWA 2024 Kwame Karikari Fact-Checking Fellowship in partnership with The Hope Newspaper to facilitate the ethos of truth in journalism and enhance media literacy in Nigeria.