The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intensified border security efforts in Adamawa State, recording major breakthroughs against large-scale petroleum product smugglers whose activities are believed to undermine national economic growth and empower criminal networks across border communities.
Addressing journalists on Thursday, December 4, 2025, at the Customs House in Yola, the National Coordinator of Operation Whirlwind, ACG Kolapo Oladeji, who represented the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, announced that officers made 55 seizures within eight weeks, intercepting over 184,000 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and multiple boats used to ferry the product out of the country.
Oladeji said operatives deployed under Operation Whirlwind have heightened surveillance across Adamawa’s high-risk corridors, shutting down smuggling routes notorious for channeling fuel to non-state actors and organised criminal groups operating around the borders.
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“Our mandate is clear: to protect Nigeria’s strategic resources and shut down all illegal supply chains that empower criminal elements,” ACG Oladeji stated.
He added that in line with directives from the Comptroller-General of Customs, security has been tightened across border areas, making PMS smuggling increasingly difficult.
“Our teams have tightened the borders and made it extremely difficult for saboteurs to move PMS out of the country.”
The seizures, valued at N181.6 million in duty-paid terms, were recorded across flashpoints including Mubi–Sahuda, Farang–Belel, Gurin–Fufore, Maiha, Wuro-Bokki, Ribado waterways, Muninga, and Bakin Kogi.
Items intercepted include 2,642 jerrycans of 25-litre PMS, drums of 220-litre capacity, and two large wooden boats used as transport vessels.
Oladeji explained that Operation Whirlwind was launched to reinforce national energy security, stressing that the illegal diversion of PMS not only causes economic losses but also provides logistical support to armed groups and cross-border criminal syndicates.
He described the smuggling rings as “a grave threat to national stability,” and reaffirmed that the NCS will continue to make border communities hostile environments for those enabling insecurity through illicit trade.
Commending residents for their intelligence support, he urged continuous collaboration:
“Your timely information has been invaluable. Security is a collective responsibility, and when you see something, say something.”
He also praised the media for helping to educate citizens on the economic and security implications of PMS smuggling, noting that public awareness remains a critical pillar in dismantling illegal fuel distribution networks.
