Why cross-border fuel smuggling persists — Customs CG

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi has stated that cross-border fuel smuggling continues largely because of price differentials between Nigeria and neighbouring countries, despite intensified enforcement operations by the Service. The Customs boss stated this while responding to questions during the Revenue Monitoring Exercise of House of Representatives Committee on […]

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi has stated that cross-border fuel smuggling continues largely because of price differentials between Nigeria and neighbouring countries, despite intensified enforcement operations by the Service.

The Customs boss stated this while responding to questions during the Revenue Monitoring Exercise of House of Representatives Committee on Finance, covering the 2023–2025 fiscal years.

He explained that the higher pump price of petrol in neighbouring countries provides strong financial incentives for smugglers.

He noted that although the Service had initially designed a special enforcement intervention, codenamed Operation Whirlwind, as a short-term measure, it has had to extend the operation due to the persistence of smuggling activities.

According to him, the operation was launched following the removal of fuel subsidies to prevent diversion of petroleum products across Nigeria’s borders.

He said while progress has been recorded in reducing daily volumes of fuel being smuggled particularly in border territories; some areas particularly Adamawa, Borno, Kwara and Kebbi remain problematic.

“We took very active interest in those particular territories. We have seen improvements, but we still have some problem areas. We will double our efforts and keep the special operation in place to ensure we make more seizures of the product,” he assured.

The CG added that Customs is leveraging technology to strengthen border surveillance and revenue collection, including deeper integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into cargo scanning systems.

“In the last two years, we have been talking about integrating AI into our scanning system. Technology is dynamic. The frontier will continue to expand as IT develops, so we cannot say we have reached 100 per cent,” he said.

Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, at the session commended the Service’s performance and pledged support in addressing policy bottlenecks affecting optimal revenue generation.