Photo: The winning Customs with the trophy
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has emerged champion of the 2026 Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), FCT Council Football Tournament, after a commanding 3-0 victory over the National Institute for Sports (NIS) in the final at the Area 3 Football Pitch, Abuja.
Captain Mikail Abubakar opened the scoring for Customs before Familola Fatai doubled the lead in the second half, while Femi Omodara sealed the victory with the third goal.
The victory capped an unbeaten campaign for Customs, who won all five matches played in the one-week tournament.
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Abubakar emerged the tournament’s Golden Boot winner with five goals and was also named Most Valuable Player (MVP), while his teammate, Charles Ahur, won the Best Goalkeeper award.
Ahur was instrumental in Customs’ run to the title, saving two penalty kicks in the semi-final against the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) before keeping a clean sheet in the final.
NIS, making its debut in the competition, fought hard but could not withstand the Customs pressure after the break, as the eventual champions took control of the encounter and completed the 3-0 victory.
In the third-place match, the Nigeria Air Force (NAF), champions of the 2025 edition, defeated last year’s runners-up, NDLEA, 2-0.
The NUJ FCT Council team won the Fair Play Award.
Chairman of the Organising Committee, Comrade Ndubueze Chidoka, described Customs as deserving champions, noting that the team won all five matches and demonstrated a high standard throughout the competition.
“Customs are truly champions. The border inspectors won all the five games they played and the standard was very high,” Chidoka said.
Chairman of the NUJ FCT Council, Comrade Grace Ike, who was represented by her Vice, Comrade Yahaya Ndambabo, commended the participating teams for displaying sportsmanship and using the tournament to strengthen relationships among journalists, government agencies and corporate organisations.
“Sports is indeed a unifier. In defeat, you still see teams exchanging pleasantries with the winning team,” she said.
The closing ceremony also featured recognition of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Dr. Bashir Adeniyi Adewale, represented by Deputy Comptroller-General Samuel Onikeku, and the Director-General of the National Institute for Sports, Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu, represented by the Institute Librarian, Dr. Omoh Asenokhai.
Eight teams participated in the tournament: NUJ FCT Council, Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Road Safety Corps, Nigeria Air Force, NDLEA, Nigeria Police Force, NTA and FCT Football Coaches Association.
