The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) has raised the alarm over the increasing use of illegal courier and logistics companies to transport hard drugs and dangerous weapons across the country, an unsettling trend that it says has escalated since President Bola Tinubu took office in 2023.
Speaking during a stakeholders’ meeting in Akure, Ondo State, the General Manager of NIPOST’s Courier and Logistics Regulations Department, Oludotun Sounde, decried the boldness of these unlicensed operators and their growing infiltration of major cities.
“These unlicensed courier companies lack the infrastructure for safe and secure delivery. Worse still, they operate without any regulatory oversight or accountability, creating a major security loophole.
“They are putting customers at risk of loss, theft, or abuse of their parcels. Using an illegal courier service is like going to a quack doctor. It could also cost you dearly,” Sounde stated on Friday.
He described the activities of these rogue operators as a “national red flag,” warning that they now operate from car parks and private offices, offering suspiciously cheap services to lure unsuspecting Nigerians.
According to Sounde, NIPOST has begun cracking down on such illegal operations, recently shutting down two unregistered courier outfits and seizing three motorcycles used for their illicit activities.
“One of the unlicensed operators was recently arrested for conveying firearms and hard drugs,” he revealed.
To restore order to the sector, Sounde stressed the need for all courier and logistics companies in Nigeria to obtain operational licenses from the Postmaster General.
This, he said, would ensure proper oversight, structure, and accountability.
He also urged Nigerians to steer clear of suspiciously cheap and untraceable courier services, noting that a regulated delivery system is critical to national security and economic development.
