CUSTOMS SEIZES N79.86M WORTH OF PETROL, FOREIGN RICE, OTHER GOODS IN ADAMAWA
Read Time:2 Minute, 27 Second
By Aishat Momoh. O.
The Nigeria Customs Service, Adamawa and Taraba Area Command, has seized Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), foreign parboiled rice, soap and other items with a total Duty Paid Value of ₦79.86 million in Adamawa State.
The Area Comptroller, Mohammed Tako, disclosed this at a press conference in Yola on Friday, saying the seizures were made during intensified anti-smuggling operations targeting identified smuggling hotspots across the command.
Tako said the operations formed part of efforts to stimulate national economic growth through aggressive anti-smuggling activities and improved trade facilitation in line with global best practices.
He disclosed that within two months of intensified operations, customs officers uncovered 451 cartons of foreign bar soap stockpiled in the bush along the bank of the River Benue.
According to him, the smugglers had allegedly prepared to move the goods into Nigeria but abandoned them and fled after customs officers intervened.
“Confronted by the swift intervention of our officers, the suspects abandoned the contraband and fled into the bush,” he said.
The comptroller said officers also discovered 374 jerrycans of PMS, each containing 25 litres, along a bush path in Sahuda, near the Nigeria-Cameroon border, in the early hours of August 20, 2026.
In another operation, a Mitsubishi Canter truck with registration number XB 566 GML was intercepted along the Wuro Alhaji-Maiha axis on September 14, 2026, at about 8.10pm, following credible intelligence.
The truck was carrying 116 bags of foreign parboiled rice, each weighing 50kg, and 50 cartons of foreign soap.
Tako added that officers discovered 299 jerrycans of PMS, each containing 25 litres, along an unapproved route on the Belel-Goshidan axis on September 21, 2026, at about 2.45am. He said the fuel was intended to be smuggled out of the country.
He further disclosed that on October 2, 2026, officers seized 150 bags of foreign parboiled rice weighing 50kg each, 20 bags of local maize weighing 100kg each, 11 bales and five jumbo sacks of second-hand clothing along a bush path on the Maiha-Mubi axis.
The items, he said, had been gathered for onward smuggling.
Giving a breakdown of the seizures, Tako listed 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 put the aggregate Duty Paid Value of the seized items at ₦79,857,500.
The comptroller said the seizures were made in accordance with the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, particularly Sections 150, 233, 245, 246 and 248, as well as Schedule 3 of the Common External Tariff, which contains the import prohibition list.
He urged community leaders to collaborate with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies in tackling smuggling and other criminal activities, stressing the importance of collective efforts to protect the country’s economic interests.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0