Customs unleashes fresh crackdown on vegetable oil smuggling as seizures hit ₦1.3bn
Maureen Aguta
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has unveiled a new offensive against the rampant smuggling of vegetable oil into the country, announcing intelligence-led special operations aimed at protecting billions of naira in local investments, safeguarding jobs and strengthening Nigeria’s agricultural value chain.
The move comes amid growing concerns from industry operators that unchecked smuggling is undermining domestic production, discouraging fresh investments and threatening the sustainability of one of the country’s key agro-industrial sectors.
Speaking during a high-level meeting with stakeholders in the vegetable oil industry at the Customs Headquarters in Maitama, Abuja, Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, said the Service was stepping up enforcement measures to dismantle smuggling networks and stem the influx of illegally imported vegetable oil products.
Adeniyi stressed that Customs and operators in the sector share a common interest in protecting legitimate businesses, promoting industrial growth and boosting national economic development.
According to him, the planned operations will be driven by intelligence gathering, strategic enforcement and stronger collaboration with industry stakeholders to identify and disrupt smuggling routes across the country’s borders.
“Fighting smuggling is a continuous process that requires intelligence, policy support and collaboration. We value constructive engagement with stakeholders and will continue to strengthen our partnership with the private sector,” Adeniyi said.
The Customs boss noted that smuggling remains one of the biggest threats to local manufacturing and agricultural processing, warning that illicit imports not only deprive government of revenue but also weaken the competitiveness of domestic producers.
He called on industry players to support the Service with credible intelligence capable of exposing smuggling syndicates and their operational networks.
Providing insight into the scale of the challenge, the Deputy Comptroller-General in charge of Enforcement, Inspection and Investigation, Timi Bomodi, disclosed that Customs intercepted dozens of smuggled vegetable oil consignments over the past 18 months.
Bomodi revealed that the Service recorded 65 seizures of vegetable oil products in 2025 and an additional 23 seizures between January and June 2026. The confiscated items had a combined Duty Paid Value (DPV) of approximately N1.314 billion.
The seizures, he said, were largely concentrated along notorious smuggling corridors, particularly the Seme and Idiroko border routes, which have remained major entry points for illicit imports.
“We recorded about 65 seizures of vegetable oil products in 2025 and another 23 seizures in 2026, with a combined Duty Paid Value of approximately N1.314 billion,” Bomodi stated.
He assured industry stakeholders that Customs would intensify surveillance and enforcement activities across identified flashpoints while deploying intelligence assets to monitor emerging smuggling routes.
Industry operators welcomed the renewed crackdown, arguing that illegal imports have continued to distort market dynamics and erode the gains of local manufacturers and plantation owners.
Speaking on behalf of the industry delegation, Founder of the Plantation Owners Forum of Nigeria, Dr. Fatai Afolabi, commended Customs for opening channels of engagement with operators while urging the Service to sustain its anti-smuggling drive.
Afolabi warned that the continued influx of smuggled vegetable oil poses a serious threat to domestic production and employment.
According to him, illegal imports are discouraging investment in plantations, processing facilities and allied industries, thereby weakening efforts to build a self-sustaining vegetable oil sector.
“Smuggling of vegetable oil is undermining local production, discouraging investment and threatening thousands of jobs across the value chain,” he said.
The latest Customs intervention signals a renewed determination by the Federal Government to protect local industries from unfair competition and reduce the economic losses associated with cross-border smuggling.
For industry stakeholders, the success of the initiative will depend not only on enforcement actions but also on sustained collaboration between government agencies, manufacturers and investors committed to expanding Nigeria’s agricultural and industrial capacity.