Customs Seizes ₦79.86m Worth of Smuggled Goods in Adamawa

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adamawa and Taraba Area Command, has seized petroleum products, foreign parboiled rice, soap and other items with a combined Duty Paid Value of ₦79.86m during anti-smuggling operations in Adamawa State.

The Area Comptroller, Mohammed Tako, disclosed this at a press conference in Yola on Friday, saying the seizures followed intensified operations targeting identified smuggling hotspots across the command.

Tako said that within two months of increased enforcement activities, officers discovered 451 cartons of foreign bar soap hidden in the bush along the bank of the River Benue. According to him, the suspected smugglers abandoned the goods and fled after encountering customs officers.

In another operation, officers recovered 374 jerrycans containing 25 litres of Premium Motor Spirit each along a bush path in Sahuda, near the Nigeria-Cameroon border, in the early hours of August 20, 2026.

The comptroller also said a Mitsubishi Canter truck, with registration number XB 566 GML, was intercepted along the Wuro Alhaji-Maiha axis on September 14. The vehicle was carrying 116 bags of foreign parboiled rice weighing 50kg each and 50 cartons of foreign soap. The interception followed what he described as credible intelligence.

Tako added that officers discovered another 299 jerrycans of PMS, each containing 25 litres, along an unapproved route on the Belel-Goshidan axis on September 21. The products were allegedly intended to be smuggled out of Nigeria.

He said a further operation on October 2 led to the seizure of 150 bags of foreign parboiled rice weighing 50kg each, 20 bags of local maize weighing 100kg each, 11 bales of second-hand clothing and five jumbo sacks of used clothes along a bush path on the Maiha-Mubi axis.

According to the comptroller, the overall seizures comprised 673 jerrycans of PMS totalling 16,825 litres, 501 cartons of foreign bar soap, 266 bags of foreign parboiled rice weighing 50kg each, 11 bales and five jumbo sacks of second-hand clothing, and one Mitsubishi Canter truck. He valued the seized items at ₦79,857,500 and said the enforcement actions were carried out under the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, and relevant provisions of the Common External Tariff. Tako urged community leaders to cooperate with customs officials and other security agencies to curb smuggling and protect the country’s economy.