Nigeria Customs Recruitment Pre-Test Crashes, Thousands of Applicants Left Stranded

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has come under heavy criticism after its recruitment pre-test portal collapsed, leaving thousands of job seekers stranded and frustrated across the country.

The online exercise, scheduled for September 22, was meant to help shortlisted candidates for the Superintendent cadre familiarise themselves with the system ahead of the main computer-based test (CBT). Instead, applicants were met with repeated crashes and error messages such as “500 Internal Server Error,” making the portal virtually inaccessible for hours.

From overcrowded cybercafés to stalled attempts at home and in offices, the experience left candidates across Nigeria furious. Many said they wasted several hours refreshing browsers with no success.

‘National embarrassment’

Abdullahi Kabiru, an applicant from Nasarawa State, advised the agency to conduct the tests in batches to ease server pressure.
“Many candidates could not access the site for two to three hours. The exam simply failed to reach us because of the numbers,” he said.

Ojila Adole, from Benue State, described the chaos at cybercafés as “embarrassing,” adding: “If Nigerian youths had decent jobs, few would scramble for Customs recruitment. But here, nobody wants to be left out.”

Others went further, calling the incident an international disgrace.
“This is an embarrassment to Nigeria,” said Etuk Effiong from Cross River. “How can a federal agency not prepare for high traffic? Do their developers not know about load balancing?”

Analysts slam repeated ICT failures

Public affairs analyst Mike Divine noted that such ICT failures are now routine in government recruitment.
“After decades of existence, Customs still cannot manage a simple online test. This reflects incompetence and a lack of investment in technology,” he said.

Tracka’s Benue officer, Mcfredericks Akor Edache, warned that the fiasco risked deepening public mistrust in civil service recruitment.
“Nigerians already believe you need ‘connections’ to get government jobs. Experiences like this only strengthen that perception,” he said, adding that it could fuel unemployment-driven internet fraud.

Customs blames ‘high traffic’

Responding to the backlash, the NCS admitted its pre-test portal failed due to overwhelming traffic.
“We are currently experiencing high traffic on the site, which may cause temporary inaccessibility. Kindly keep trying as our team works to resolve the issue,” the agency said in a statement on Facebook.

The NCS has since rescheduled the exercise, instructing shortlisted candidates to check their new batch, date, and time using their National Identification Number (NIN).

Despite the rescheduling, pressure is mounting on the Customs Service — and by extension other federal agencies — to modernise their recruitment systems and restore trust among millions of desperate Nigerian job seekers.