It remains one of the most extraordinary incidents ever witnessed in the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). On June 8, 2019, an Assistant Superintendent of Customs, Dahiru Nura Wowo, walked into the headquarters of the Service in Abuja wearing the rank of a Deputy Comptroller-General and declared that he had come to take over as Comptroller-General.
His destination was the office of the then Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (retd), whom he reportedly asked to vacate the seat, claiming that then-President Muhammadu Buhari had directed him to assume leadership of the agency. The bizarre episode, which quickly made national headlines and dominated conversations across the country, ended almost as abruptly as it began.
The Nigeria Customs Service immediately arrested Wowo and, in a statement issued the same day, disclosed that he was undergoing medical examination after officials concluded that he was “not in the right frame of mind”. The then National Public Relations Officer of the Service, Joseph Attah, said a doctor was invited after officers questioned Wowo over his claims.
“From questions and answers that followed, it was obvious that he was not in the right frame of mind, so a Doctor was immediately invited. He is presently undergoing a medical examination at the medical unit of the service,” Attah said in the statement issued on June 8, 2019.
The Customs spokesman also confirmed that Wowo, an officer from Katsina State, had promoted himself to the rank of Comptroller-General while wearing the insignia of a Deputy Comptroller-General before arriving at the Customs headquarters. For many Nigerians, the incident has since become one of those unforgettable moments in the country’s public service history, frequently resurfacing on social media whenever unusual events in government institutions are discussed.
However, beyond the initial statement announcing his arrest and medical evaluation, little has been heard publicly about Dahiru Nura Wowo. Seven years after the incident, the questions remain: What became of the Customs officer whose actions stunned the nation?
What was the outcome of the medical examination ordered by the Service? Is he still in the Nigeria Customs Service, or did he leave the agency? Did the Service conclude any disciplinary or administrative process in the matter? These are questions only the Nigeria Customs Service can answer.