Customs seizes 38,700 litres of petrol in Adamawa border crackdown
- Customs' Operation Whirlwind seized 1,548 jerrycans of petrol, 38,700 litres in all, in a six-week Adamawa crackdown.
- The service put the combined duty-paid value of the fuel and a seized vehicle at ₦63.115 million.
- Officials blame the gap between Nigerian and Cameroonian pump prices for driving the smuggling.
The Nigeria Customs Service says it has seized 38,700 litres of petrol in border communities across Adamawa State, ending a six-week crackdown on suspected fuel smuggling.
The fuel was packed in 1,548 jerrycans of 25 litres each, according to the National Coordinator of Operation Whirlwind, Deputy Comptroller-General Abubakar Lucky Aliyu. He announced the seizures at a press briefing in Yola on Wednesday.
Customs put the combined duty-paid value of the petrol and a vehicle allegedly used to move it at ₦63.115 million.
The seizures were made at Malabu-Belel, Girei-Wuro Bokki, Gurin-Fufore, Wuro Alhaji-Maiha and Mubi-Sahuda. Aliyu said the operations followed intelligence on routes used to move petroleum products across Nigeria's borders.
Why the price gap matters
Officials pointed to the difference between fuel prices in Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon as the pull behind the trade. The Adamawa coordinator of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Dr Bashir Sirajo, said in a message to the briefing that this gap creates a strong incentive to smuggle.
"Unscrupulous individuals divert petroleum products meant for Nigerians across the borders, distorting the domestic supply chain and creating artificial scarcity in border communities," Sirajo said.
Sahara Reporters, citing its own checks, put petrol at 840 CFA francs a litre in Cameroon as of 19 October, which it converted to about ₦1,918. That is well above what a litre costs at Nigerian pumps, though the sources did not give a current Nigerian average.
For Nigerians, the concern is supply. Fuel diverted across the border can tighten stock in border towns and push up transport and food costs in communities that already feel the squeeze of higher pump prices since the subsidy was removed in 2023.
Aliyu warned that smuggling and diversion could undermine efforts to keep domestic supplies steady, especially when distribution is stretched. He said products meant for the Nigerian market should not be moved out illegally.
"We will continue to pursue suspected smugglers in accordance with the law, with the aim of dismantling their networks and protecting Nigeria's economic interests," he said.
Operation Whirlwind is Customs' dedicated anti-smuggling programme for petroleum products. Its mandate is to stop illegal movement and diversion of fuel and protect national energy security.
What happens next
Customs says the crackdown will continue along the Adamawa corridors, which it describes as major entry and exit routes linking Nigeria to Cameroon. The sources did not say whether anyone has been arrested or charged over the seizures.
