The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intensified efforts to protect local industries and preserve jobs with the interception of prohibited imported goods valued at over N273 million in Cross River State.
The Customs Area Controller of the Cross River/Calabar Free Trade Zone/Akwa Ibom Area Command, Comptroller Giwa Dauda, disclosed this during a press briefing in Calabar on Wednesday.
Dauda said the seizure was part of the Service’s ongoing campaign against smuggling and illegal importation, which he noted pose serious threats to local manufacturers and the nation’s economy.
According to him, Customs operatives on June 14 intercepted two 20-foot containers loaded with 1,996 kegs of foreign refined vegetable oil along the Odukpani-Calabar Highway. The products, concealed in a truck during a routine patrol operation, had a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N195.5 million.
He explained that the importation of foreign vegetable oil is prohibited under the Federal Government’s import restriction policy aimed at boosting local production, encouraging self-sufficiency, and strengthening Nigeria’s industrial sector.
“Vegetable oil is one of the products in which Nigerian manufacturers have invested heavily. The influx of prohibited imported products undermines local production capacity, discourages investment, and threatens thousands of jobs across the agricultural and manufacturing value chains,” Dauda said.
In addition to the vegetable oil seizure, the Command also intercepted 1,500 used tyres and 105 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing. Combined with other confiscated items, the total Duty Paid Value of the seizures stood at N273.7 million.
The Area Controller further revealed that officers seized 800 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), bringing the total volume of petrol intercepted by the Command in 2026 to 5,760 litres.
He noted that the seized fuel was disposed of in line with approved safety procedures due to its highly combustible nature.
Dauda warned smugglers and other economic saboteurs to desist from illegal importation activities, stressing that such practices undermine local industries, distort fair market competition, and frustrate government efforts to diversify the economy through industrialisation.
He reaffirmed the Command’s commitment to enforcing customs laws and protecting Nigeria’s economic interests through sustained anti-smuggling operations.
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