The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intensified efforts to curb fuel smuggling along the Taraba-Cameroon border, leading to a major seizure of 34,470 liters of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and a heavy-duty transportation truck during a three-hour operation.
The enforcement, carried out by the Customs’ Operation Whirlwind unit, was targeted at smugglers operating in Gembu and Kan-Iyaka in Sardauna LGA, a notorious transit route for illicit fuel.
Speaking during a public auction of the seized items in Jalingo on Friday, the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, revealed that the operation was executed with support from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, and the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Adeniyi stated that intelligence gathered by the inter agency intelligence fusion center had detected suspicious fuel movement patterns across the Sorofi and Kan-Iyaka axis between March 8 and 8, 2025.
“Acting on this intelligence, field teams launched a series of coordinated interceptions that disrupted what appears to be an emerging smuggling corridor,” he said.
The operation, as announced by him, resulted in the confiscation of 1,149 Jerry cans of PMS, each containing 30 liters, totaling 34,470 liters.
Additionally, a specialized transportation truck, valued at N4 million, he said was also seized. He estimated the total duty-paid value to N37.78 million.
Adeniyi emphasized that a significant portion of the smuggled fuel was intercepted in Gembu, the administrative headquarters of Sardauna.
Among the seized items were 180 Jerry cans and the smuggling truck, which, he said was was intercepted en route to the Kan-Iyaka border crosssing.
Describing fuel smuggling as a major threat to national security and economic stability, Adeniyi called for continued vigilance from security agencies.
“Petrol drives the economy, and any scarcity of the product could slow down economic activities,” he warned, urging residents and stakeholders to support anti-smuggling efforts to ensure fuel availability for local consumption.
The Customs boss reaffirmed the NCS’s commitment to sustaining its crackdown on smuggling networks, pledging to safeguard Nigeria’s energy sector and economic interest
NCS seizes 34,470 liters of smuggled fuel at Taraba, Cameron border
