Thousands of Nigerian job seekers were left stranded on Monday after the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) recruitment pre-test suffered repeated crashes, leading to widespread frustration and criticism.

The online exercise, scheduled for September 22, 2025, was meant to help shortlisted applicants for the Superintendent Cadre familiarise themselves with the system ahead of the official computer-based test (CBT). However, instead of a smooth process, candidates were greeted with multiple error messages, including the dreaded “500 Internal Server Error.”

Many applicants, some of whom had gathered in overcrowded cybercafés, waited for hours, refreshing their browsers in vain.

Applicants Share Their Ordeal

Abdullahi Kabiru from Nasarawa State urged NCS to adopt a batch system to reduce traffic on the servers.
“Many candidates could not access the site for two to three hours. The exam message didn’t reach most people as intended,” he lamented.

Ojila Adole from Benue State described the overcrowding in cybercafés as “chaotic,” blaming poor coordination. He also pointed to Nigeria’s rising unemployment as the reason thousands scramble for limited slots in government recruitment exercises.

“This is why the CBT should be organized in batches. If Nigerian youths were gainfully employed, the desperation wouldn’t be this high,” he noted.

Etuk Effiong from Cross River State went further, describing the failed test as an “international embarrassment.”
“How can a federal agency not anticipate server load? Are their developers not aware of load balancing?” he queried.

Analysts, Civil Groups React

Public affairs analyst Mike Divine described the incident as part of a larger trend of ICT failures in federal recruitment.

“It’s worrisome that after decades of existence, NCS still struggles to conduct a simple online test. This amateur approach is unfair to applicants,” he said, urging the agency to invest in reliable digital infrastructure or revert to paper-based tests.

Mcfredericks Akor Edache of Tracka said the chaos revealed the rot in Nigeria’s civil service recruitment system, where due process is often undermined by technical hitches or corruption.
“This only reinforces the belief that without connections, securing government jobs is nearly impossible,” he warned.

Customs Responds

In a statement on its official Facebook page, NCS admitted that the crash was caused by “high traffic” and assured candidates that its team was working to resolve the issue.

“We are currently experiencing high traffic on the site, which may cause temporary inaccessibility. Kindly keep trying,” the notice read.

The agency has since rescheduled the pre-test for shortlisted candidates, directing applicants to use their National Identification Number (NIN) to check their batch, date, and time.