Ogun Customs Records 43 Seizures Worth N3.15 Billion Under New Controller

 

Aina Obasanjo 

The Nigeria Customs Service, Ogun 1 Area Command, has intercepted smuggled and prohibited goods with a Duty Paid Value of more than three-point-one-five billion naira in fifteen days.

The seizures, comprising forty-three interceptions, include cannabis, unregistered pharmaceutical products, foreign rice, prohibited pasta, military camouflage caps and thirteen foreign-used vehicles.

Acting Area Controller of the Command, Deputy Comptroller Abdulhamid Ibrahim, disclosed this during his maiden press briefing at the Command’s headquarters in Idiroko, Ogun State.

Ibrahim, who assumed office on September 29th, 2026 attributed the achievements to intelligence-driven operations, intensified surveillance and collaboration with other security agencies and community stakeholders.

He said the Command remained committed to combating smuggling, protecting public health and safeguarding the nation’s economic and security interests.

Giving details of some major interceptions, the Acting Controller said Customs operatives, acting on credible intelligence, intercepted three trucks conveying prohibited foreign pasta in the early hours of October second.

The trucks were found to contain thousands of cartons of foreign pasta concealed alongside other goods.

In a separate operation on October fourth, operatives intercepted a Dangote truck conveying one hundred bags of foreign parboiled rice concealed beneath mica and gypsum stones along the Afamin-Dangote-Itori axis of Ogun State.

Ibrahim also disclosed that on October eleventh, Customs operatives intercepted a ten-tyre truck carrying three hundred and twenty-one military camouflage face caps and twenty-seven thousand, eight hundred and thirty-one units of unregistered pharmaceutical products.

The pharmaceutical products included codeine-containing cough syrup, injections, eye drops and supplements without registration numbers from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC.

He described the seizures as significant, warning that unregulated medicines and restricted military items could pose serious threats to public health and national security.

Other items seized include four thousand and thirteen parcels of cannabis sativa, six hundred and sixty bags of foreign parboiled rice, nine hundred and fifty litres of Premium Motor Spirit, second-hand clothing, shoes, used tyres and imported bags.

The Acting Controller said five trucks linked to some of the major interceptions, with a combined estimated value of one-point-two-three-five billion naira, would be forfeited to the Federal Government in line with the Nigeria Customs Service Act, twenty-twenty-three.

He reaffirmed the Command’s zero-tolerance policy towards smuggling and warned smugglers and their collaborators to desist from illegal activities.

Ibrahim commended the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, for his leadership and support, while praising officers and men of the Command, sister security agencies and community stakeholders for their contributions to border security.

Meanwhile, the Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Idiroko Special Command, has commended Customs for the interceptions, particularly the seizure of cannabis and codeine-containing cough syrup.

The NDLEA commander expressed concern over the effects of drug abuse on young people and the possible security implications of the intercepted military camouflage caps.

He confirmed that the seized cannabis had been formally handed over to the agency for further investigation and legal action.

The commander added that the NDLEA was pursuing the necessary approvals for the public destruction of the seized drugs in accordance with the law.