The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has recorded one of its biggest anti-fuel smuggling breakthroughs in Adamawa State after intercepting 108,775 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) allegedly being ferried through the River Benue into Cameroon.
In a statement posted on X on Saturday, the Service said the operation took place in the early hours of November 6 under the command of ACG Kolapo Oladeji, National Coordinator of Operation Whirlwind.
Oladeji said the interception followed covert surveillance conducted by a specialised tactical squad stationed around the Ribadu Loading Bay, a hotspot for illicit fuel movement across Nigeria’s border.
“Our personnel moved in immediately and ordered the smugglers to halt as they began loading the products onto the vessel,” he said.
He explained that poor visibility and the rough terrain prompted officers to focus on securing the seized fuel and preventing the smugglers’ vessel from slipping into international waters.
A coordinated follow-up search, supported by the North-Eastern Marine Command, uncovered another wooden boat loaded with petrol-filled drums and jerrycans.
Both vessels were escorted to the Jimeta waterside in Yola, where the products were transferred into trucks and taken to a secured Customs facility for documentation.
An inventory revealed 485 drums of 220 litres each and 83 jerrycans of 25 litres each, totalling 108,775 litres of PMS.
Given the product’s highly combustible nature, Oladeji said the Service recommended an immediate public auction in line with approved safety and disposal procedures.
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He stressed that the operation reflects the Service’s intensified campaign to dismantle cross-border smuggling networks, protect Nigeria’s economic assets, and enforce regulations governing petroleum product distribution.
Oladeji also lamented that smuggling of PMS through Nigeria’s northern and eastern waterways has remained a major threat to national energy security, with significant volumes still being illegally transported to neighbouring countries.
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