🇳🇬NigeriaWest Africa
Nigeria Customs Service seizes ₦93 million in smuggled petrol in Adamawa, declares war on smugglers
via Punch Nigeria3 min read
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, represented by Deputy Comptroller Abubakar Aliyu, has announced a crackdown on smugglers across Nigeria, urging them to find alternative livelihoods. Speaking in Yola, Aliyu highlighted that strategic operations along Nigeria’s borders aim to protect food, energy, and national security, aligning with President Bola Tinubu’s mandates. Operation Whirlwind Zone ‘D’ has achieved significant success, recording 47 seizures with a monetary value of ₦93,029,800.00 within six weeks in Adamawa State. These seizures, made across various flashpoints including Mubi-Sahuda axis and Gurin-Fufore axis, include 64,410 liters of Premium Motor Spirit PMS packed in jerry cans and drums, along with two vehicles used for conveyance. The seizures were made in contravention of sections 150, 248, and 250 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023. Additionally, a DAF fuel tanker carrying 50,000 liters of PMS was intercepted on April 15, 2026, along the Mubi–Uba road due to product diversion and will be handed over to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority NMDPRA. Aliyu attributed the high rate of smuggling to the significant price difference of PMS between Nigeria and neighboring countries like Cameroon and Benin Republic, where prices are substantially higher despite Nigeria's own price increases.
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This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by Punch Nigeria.
Must ReadTroops from Operation ENDURING PEACE intercepted a significant cache of ammunition and suspected improvised explosive device IED components on the Kaduna-Jos road, leading to the arrest of seven suspects. The interception occurred on Thursday near Boys Science Secondary School on the Manchok-Jos road in Kaduna State. The military stated that the vigilant troops, reinforced by a Special Forces Tactical Team, conducted a precision stop-and-search operation. Items recovered from a commercial vehicle included 569 rounds of 12.7mm anti-aircraft ammunition, several warheads, 189 empty shells of 7.62mm ammunition, and mobile phones suspected to be IED components. The driver, Khalifa Bawa, denied ownership of the items, claiming they were handed to him for delivery by an anonymous source, with no contact information for either the sender or the intended recipient. All seven occupants of the vehicle are currently in custody. This operation is part of intensified efforts by security agencies to disrupt the movement of arms and explosives in the North-Central region.
Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has condemned the abduction of Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination UTME candidates in Benue State, calling it a reflection of deepening insecurity and a serious indictment of leadership failure. In a post on his verified X handle, Obi described the incident as heartbreaking and lamented that young Nigerians seeking education are increasingly exposed to violence, which he warned poses a grave threat to the country's future. He stated that Nigeria cannot afford to lose more students to violence, emphasizing that a nation abandoning its youth abandons its future. Obi also highlighted Nigeria's low rate of tertiary education attainment, noting it is far below comparable countries like Indonesia and South Africa, making such incidents unacceptable. He criticized authorities for prioritizing political interests over citizen safety, accusing them of being preoccupied with elections and projecting power to rig them rather than securing roads and rescuing abducted children. Obi described the abduction as part of a troubling pattern and a national crisis, calling for urgent, decisive action to address insecurity nationwide.
The Nigeria Police Force has refuted claims that the extradition of Matthew Chukwuemeka Adebiyi, a suspect in murder and drug trafficking, to the United Kingdom was tribally motivated. Aliyu Giwa, the Force’s New Media Officer, clarified on X that Adebiyi's official records show he has mixed heritage, with an Igbo mother and a Yoruba father, emphasizing that "crime has no tribe, justice has no ethnicity." Giwa stated that neither the victim's death nor the extradition process had any ethnic dimension, and that Adebiyi's flight from the UK and Joshua Boadu's murder were not ethnically motivated. Adebiyi was extradited on April 14, 2026, after nearly eight years as a fugitive in Nigeria following Boadu's murder in June 2018 and facing charges of supplying crack cocaine. UK authorities submitted an extradition request in September 2024, leading to Adebiyi's arrest on January 23, 2025. Justice A. O. Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos approved the extradition on February 16, 2026. Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, reiterated the Force's commitment to international law enforcement cooperation, stating that Nigeria is not a refuge for fugitives.
Must ReadThe Central Bank of Nigeria CBN has launched the Nigerian Overnight Financing Rate NOFR, a new benchmark for the country's money market. This initiative, developed in collaboration with the Financial Markets Dealers Association, aims to improve transparency, strengthen monetary policy transmission, and deepen Nigeria's financial system. The CBN's Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Hakama Sidi-Ali, stated that NOFR aligns Nigeria with global standards for short-term interest rate benchmarks, similar to SOFR in the United States and SONIA in the United Kingdom. The rate is expected to enhance price discovery, promote consistent pricing of money market instruments, and support financial innovation. NOFR is a risk-free benchmark reflecting the cost of overnight secured funding in the interbank market, based on actual transactions. It is not a monetary policy tool but serves as a reference for pricing financial instruments. The benchmark is published daily and its methodology will be reviewed annually by the CBN. While it will play a key role for investors in pricing and risk management of naira-denominated financial instruments, retail customers will not see direct changes to savings or loan rates.