The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says its Operation Whirlwind team in Zone D has intercepted more than 195,000 litres of smuggled Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) across Adamawa State.
The Service announced that part of the seized fuel was auctioned to motorists at N600 per litre to prevent spoilage and discourage hoarding.
Speaking on Thursday at the Customs House in Yola, Comptroller-General of Customs Adewale Adeniyi—represented by the National Coordinator of Operation Whirlwind, ACG Kolapo Oladeji—said officers recorded 55 seizures in eight weeks, with a total Duty Paid Value of N181.6 million.
According to Oladeji, the operation focused on major smuggling routes including Mubi–Sahuda, Farang–Belel, Gurin–Fufore, Maiha, Wuro Bokki, Ribado waterways, Muninga, and Bakin Kogi, where fuel is often moved toward Nigeria’s borders despite repeated enforcement actions.
Seized items included:
184,006 litres of PMS in 2,642 jerrycans
11,256 litres stored in a filling station
485 drums of 220-litre capacity
Two large wooden boats used to ferry fuel toward border communities
Oladeji said the crackdown aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s directives on national energy and food security, stressing that fuel smuggling amounts to economic sabotage that worsens hardship by draining national resources.
He noted an increase in violent resistance from smugglers, citing an October 19 incident where officers on duty along the Belel–Farang axis were attacked during a midnight ambush. No casualties were recorded, which Customs credited to the professionalism of its personnel.
The ACG vowed that the Service would intensify pressure on fuel-smuggling networks:
“We will not relent. We will choke off the supply chains of these economic wreckers.”
He commended residents of border communities for providing intelligence that helped expose several smuggling rings and urged them to continue reporting suspicious activities in the interest of national security.
Oladeji also expressed appreciation to journalists for highlighting the dangers of smuggling and acknowledged the support of the Office of the National Security Adviser, the NMDPRA, and various Customs units — including the Adamawa/Taraba Command, CIU, SIS, CPU, and FOU ‘D’.
He concluded by reaffirming Operation Whirlwind’s commitment to sustaining the offensive and ensuring a Nigeria “where smuggling will be treated as a forbidden cake.”
