Worried by worsening cases of fake news and online scams that damage its image, the Nigeria Customs Service is concluding plans to deploy Artificial Intelligence AI, data tracking tools to curb the menace, which involves integrating new-age digital data-tracking intelligence tools.

Comptroller-General of the Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, made the disclosure at the just concluded Neccipr Roundtable ’26 Edition held in Lagos on October 30, 2026. The theme of the event was: “Algorithm Influence & Public Relations.

Represented by the National Public Relations Officer of the Service, Deputy Comptroller of Customs Abdullahi Maiwada, the Customs Chief explained that as a communicator, it is important to ensure the general public understands and accepts why officers carry out the duties of their offices.

“The role of AI cannot be over emphasised especially within our operations. Over the years AI has been deployed in our core operational duties as well as strategic communication. AI has also been deployed to aid risk management, which involves assessment of the risks in imported items so that they can be categorised according to their different levels of risk to enable appropriate customs interventions,” he said.

He explained that artificial intelligence can also analyse sentiment and understand how people perceive Customs activities. He added that the Service is using every available platform to establish facts while working with other agencies to arrest those behind misleading information.

Earlier, the convener of the Neccipr Roundtable ’26, Nkechi Ali-Balogun, said the program began with a simple conviction: public relations professionals must not only manage messages but also lead 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? Who now controls the flow of information that shapes what Nigerians believe? We live in a rapidly changing world, powered by AI, where a single algorithm can shape political narratives, throw out conspiracy theories, and dictate what millions read, believe, and share,” she said.

A high pint of the event was the delivery of goodwill speeches from the President/ Chairman of the Governing Council, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations NIPR, Dr. Ike Neliaku, and former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, among other invited dignitaries, which signpost the professional readiness to sustain the standard of credible information.