Customs seizes smuggled PMS, ammunition, others at Idiroko border

The Idiroko Command of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) on Tuesday confirmed the seizure of 18,544 bags of 50kg imported rice, 145,478 liters of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), 940 rounds of ammunition, 586 bales of used clothing, 87 vehicles used to convey illicit goods, and 27 foreign-used vehicles, also known as Tokunbo cars.

Other seized items include 760 pieces of donkey skin, 2,645 cartons of frozen poultry products, 1,642 coconut-sized wraps of Cannabis Sativa, 85 bags of imported flour, 37 bags of imported sugar, 40 cartons of foreign wine, 3,249 pieces of used pneumatic tires, and 6 units of motorcycles.

The Area Controller, Mohammed Shu’aibu, disclosed this while briefing the House of Representatives’ Committee on Customs and Excise, chaired by Hon. Leke Abejide. He explained that the assorted contraband goods were confiscated from smugglers in 1,346 seizure operations. He noted that the command had seized smuggled goods with a duty-paid value (DPV) of N1.7 billion in 2024, despite facing various operational challenges.

He also mentioned that one of the major challenges faced by the Command is the complicity of what he described as “criminal elements” within the border communities involved in smuggling activities.

Shu’aibu further added that the Command had seized contraband goods with a DPV of N291.4 million in 161 seizure operations in the first quarter of 2025.

He said, “The first quarter of 2025 has not caught us resting on our laurels. Deploying intelligence-driven operations, we have recorded 161 seizures with a DPV of N291,493,561. Some of the items seized include: 7,242 bags of imported rice weighing 50kg each, 20,500 liters of PMS, 3,699 wraps of Cannabis Sativa, 843 used tires, 2 Dane guns, 2 sacks of cowries, and 7 million CFA.”

The Controller reported that revenue generated in the first quarter of 2025 was N43.41 million, representing a 17.39% increase from the corresponding quarter in 2024, which was N35.806 million.

Additionally, the Comptroller of the Ogun 2 Command in Abeokuta, AOB Alade, told the committee that the command had generated about N6.9 billion in the first three months of 2025, out of a target of N43.2 billion for the 2025 financial year.

He said, “The Command successfully generated a total revenue of N33,244,222,607.55 in 2024. The revenue target for 2025 is N43.200 billion. So far, the Command has generated N6,930,447,673.90.”

However, Alade earned the ire of the committee members with his inadequate response to questions, particularly when asked about five companies he claimed were recently registered and what had happened to the import duties they were supposed to pay.

In response, the Comptroller stated that the backlog of duties left unpaid by these five companies, which he said were recently discovered, may not be recovered. When asked whether these companies were found to have been operating illegally, he said, “Our monitoring team is always going around. They discovered the companies, which had been operating illegally. We don’t know when they started operating, so we may not recover the money.”

Chairman of the committee, Leke Abejide, told the Comptroller that it is unacceptable to claim that the money cannot be recovered from companies that operated illegally in the country.

The committee, angered by his response, instructed the Controller to report to the National Assembly as soon as possible with relevant records of the Command’s operations since 2019.

In separate remarks at the two Area Commands—Ogun 1, Idiroko, and Ogun 2 Area Command, Abeokuta—Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Leke Abejide, stated that the committee’s visit was part of its oversight of Customs Zone A Lagos, which also covers the Ogun State Area Commands and others.