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No, Nigeria Customs Service isn't recruiting, ignore fake online posts

IN SHORT: Several Facebook posts claim to help you get a job with Nigeria’s customs service. They are false, a spokesperson said.

The Facebook page Nigeria Custom service replacement application form, which has 3,000 followers, claims that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is recruiting. 

The NCS manages revenue collection, international trade and anti-smuggling activities within the country.

One post on the page, dated 12 April 2023, begins: Nigeria Customs Service recruitment 2023 portal is currently open for online application.”

The post says the page will “outline the necessary guidelines that will increase your chances of being recruited in the 2023 NCS recruitment exercise”, and shares a phone number that is meant to help with this.

It then shares a link to start a chat on Facebook’s Messenger service. 

The recruitment notice appears here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here on Facebook, often listing different phone numbers.

But is it a legitimate recruitment drive? 

NigeriaRecruitment_False

Fake recruitment

Abdullahi Maiwada is a public relations officer for the NCS. He told Vanguard, a national newspaper, that the post was “fake and should be disregarded”.

“The notice is the handiwork of unscrupulous elements and an attempt to defraud Nigerians. Customs is currently not recruiting and if it is doing so, it will be on the official website only,” he said.

Africa Check has debunked many online scams offering jobs, grants, loans, and gifts. For more tips, read our guide on how to spot them.

For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false

A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?

Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.

Publishers guide

Africa Check teams up with Facebook

Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.

The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.

You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.

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