The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Cross River/Calabar Free Trade Zone/Akwa Ibom Area Command, has announced the seizure of smuggled vegetable oil and other prohibited goods worth N273.68 million in Cross River State, in what officials described as a major crackdown on economic sabotage and illicit cross-border trade.
The seizures were disclosed in Calabar by the Area Comptroller of the command, Comptroller Momodu Dauda, during a briefing with journalists on Wednesday. According to him, the contraband was intercepted in a series of anti-smuggling operations carried out across the command’s area of responsibility between early June and June 24.
At the centre of the seizures was a massive consignment of 1,996 kegs of 25-litre foreign refined vegetable oil, with a duty-paid value of N195.5 million. Customs said the vegetable oil was uncovered after officers intercepted a truck transporting two 20-foot containers along the Odukpani-Calabar Highway on June 14, 2026.
Dauda said the truck was abandoned by its occupants when customs officers moved in.
According to him, the driver and his motor boy fled the scene after apparently sensing that the truck had been detected by patrol officers. A search of the vehicle later revealed the large consignment of smuggled vegetable oil hidden inside the containers.
Beyond the vegetable oil seizure, the command also confiscated 1,500 imported used tyres valued at N61.39 million and 105 jumbo-sized bales of second-hand clothing worth N15.63 million.
In a separate operation carried out on Wednesday, customs officers also intercepted 800 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) valued at N1.15 million. The latest fuel seizure, according to the command, brings the total quantity of PMS intercepted by the area command in 2026 to about 5,760 litres.
Customs said all the recovered items fall under the Federal Government’s Import Prohibition List, making their importation and movement into the country illegal. The command warned that the continued smuggling of such goods poses serious dangers not only to the economy but also to public health, environmental standards and local businesses.
Dauda said the prohibition on some of the seized items was not arbitrary, stressing that the restrictions were designed to protect local industries from unfair foreign competition, preserve jobs, support domestic manufacturing and prevent harmful products from flooding Nigerian markets.
He noted that the seizure of the items was part of the command’s broader effort to tackle smuggling networks operating within Cross River and surrounding corridors, warning that the Customs Service would intensify intelligence-driven surveillance and enforcement operations.
The comptroller issued a stern warning to smugglers and their collaborators, saying individuals involved in the illegal importation and movement of prohibited goods should immediately desist or face the full weight of the law. He said the service remained committed to dismantling smuggling syndicates and curbing all forms of economic sabotage in the region.
Dauda also appealed to residents and stakeholders to support customs operations by volunteering credible information that could help authorities identify smuggling routes, warehouses and syndicates behind the illegal trade.
He credited the command’s recent enforcement successes to reforms introduced by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, saying the renewed focus on professionalism, intelligence gathering and enforcement has strengthened the service’s capacity to confront smuggling across the country.
The latest interception adds to a growing wave of customs seizures tied to the illegal importation of vegetable oil and other banned products into Nigeria, as authorities continue to battle smuggling networks accused of undermining local production, draining government revenue and sabotaging legitimate trade.
Post A Comment: