The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adamawa/Taraba Area Command has intercepted contraband goods with a duty-paid value of N79.86 million in a series of anti-smuggling operations across the command’s area of responsibility.
Key Highlights
- Adamawa/Taraba Customs seizes contraband worth N79.86m in five weeks.
- Seizures include 673 jerrycans (16,825 litres) of PMS, 501 cartons of foreign soap and 266 bags of foreign rice.
- 11 bales and five jumbo sacks of second-hand clothing and a Mitsubishi Canter truck also seized.
- Operations along Ribadu, Sahuda, Maiha, Belel-Goshidan and Mubi axes.
- Area Comptroller Aminu Tanko urges the public to report smuggling activities.
The Area Comptroller, Aminu Tanko, disclosed this on Friday, during a press conference in Yola, Adamawa State, attributing the seizures to intelligence gathering, surveillance and the determination of officers to combat smuggling and other unlawful trade practices along border corridors.
Tanko said the command has recorded several successful operations in the last five weeks, targeting smugglers operating along various routes in Adamawa State.
How the seizures were made
He said that on August 16, 2026, operatives, acting on credible intelligence, raided the bank of River Benue along the Ribadu axis, where they discovered 451 cartons of foreign bar soap concealed in a bush near the shoreline.
According to him, on August 20, officers intercepted 374 jerrycans of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), each containing 25 litres, along a bush path in Sahuda, near the Nigeria-Cameroon border.
He added that on September 14, 2026, at about 8:10 p.m., a Mitsubishi Canter truck with registration number XB 566 GML was intercepted along the Wuro Aihaji-Maiha axis.
The vehicle was reportedly conveying 116 bags of foreign parboiled rice, each weighing 50 kilogrammes, and 50 cartons of foreign soap.
Tanko further disclosed that 299 jerrycans of PMS, each containing 25 litres, were intercepted on September 21, along the Belel-Goshidan axis while being transported for suspected smuggling out of the country.
He said that on October 2, operatives seized another 150 bags of foreign parboiled rice, each weighing 50 kilogrammes, alongside 20 bags of local maize weighing 100 kilogrammes each.
The officers also recovered 11 bales and five jumbo sacks of second-hand clothing concealed along a bush path on the Maiha-Mubi axis, allegedly intended for onward smuggling.
Read also:
- Customs Seize ₦79.86m Worth of Petrol, Foreign Rice, Other Goods in Adamawa
- Customs Intercepts 38,700 Litres Of Petrol Worth N63.1m In Adamawa
- Customs intercepts N104m worth of contraband in Adamawa, Taraba
Breakdown of seized items
Giving a breakdown of the seizures, the comptroller listed 673 jerrycans of PMS, amounting to 16,825 litres; 501 cartons of foreign bar soap; 266 bags of foreign parboiled rice, each weighing 50 kilogrammes; 11 bales and five jumbo sacks of second-hand clothing; and one Mitsubishi Canter truck used to convey the goods.
He put the aggregate duty-paid value of the seized items at N79,857,500.
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.
Tanko urged members of the public to provide credible information to the service about suspected smuggling activities and other illegal trade practices.
He warned against aiding or encouraging smugglers, stressing that public cooperation was essential to protecting the nation’s economy and securing its economic future.
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