Nigerian customs officials on Tuesday auctioned off thousands of litres of seized petrol in Lagos after intercepting what authorities said was a smuggling network attempting to move fuel illegally across the country’s borders.
The Nigeria Customs Service said it sold 14,875 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, valued at 14.875 million naira (about US$9,600), during a public auction held at the Customs Training College in Ikeja, Lagos.
Officials said the fuel had been confiscated over the past four weeks in a targeted anti-smuggling operation across Nigeria’s southwest border corridors.
“Over the past four weeks, acting on credible intelligence, our operatives successfully dismantled a coordinated smuggling network involved in the illegal exportation of PMS to neighbouring countries,” Abubakar Aliyu, the national coordinator of Operation Whirlwind, told journalists during the auction exercise.
According to Aliyu, the seized fuel was contained in 595 jerrycans and intercepted at several flashpoints in Lagos and Ogun states, including Imeko, Ilara, Ilaro, Idiroko, and the Seme-Badagry axis — all areas near Nigeria’s borders with the wider West African region.
He said the products had been earmarked for illegal export in violation of Nigerian laws governing the distribution and movement of petroleum products.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, has long battled the smuggling of subsidised or relatively cheaper fuel into neighbouring countries, where pump prices are often significantly higher.
Although the Nigerian government removed its long-standing fuel subsidy in 2023, cross-border petrol smuggling has remained a persistent challenge, driven by price differentials, porous borders and weak enforcement in some areas.
Customs officials said the latest seizure was part of Operation Whirlwind, a special anti-smuggling campaign aimed at curbing the diversion of petroleum products meant for domestic use.
Aliyu described fuel smuggling as a serious economic and security threat.
“Petroleum smuggling is not a victimless crime,” he said. “It undermines the national economy, deprives the government of vital revenue, disrupts the domestic supply chain and creates artificial scarcity that negatively affects citizens.”
He added that the trade also helps sustain criminal networks and threatens broader economic stability.
Nigeria has repeatedly struggled with fuel shortages, long queues at filling stations and supply disruptions, particularly during periods of policy transition or logistical bottlenecks. Authorities say illegal cross-border diversion worsens those pressures by reducing local availability.
Aliyu said customs had intensified surveillance and intelligence gathering along key smuggling routes, with support from other agencies and improved inter-agency coordination.
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He credited the Office of the National Security Adviser, headed by Nuhu Ribadu, with helping strengthen enforcement operations, and praised the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority for its technical and regulatory support.
He also commended Adewale Adeniyi, Nigeria’s comptroller-general of customs, for what he called “visionary leadership” in the fight against smuggling.
The public auction, Aliyu said, was intended to ensure transparency and return the confiscated fuel into the legal domestic market instead of allowing it to be diverted again.
“In line with legal provisions and our commitment to transparency, accountability and due process, the seized PMS is being disposed of through this public auction,” he said.
Customs officials said the exercise was conducted in the presence of security agencies, media representatives, civil society groups and other government institutions to ensure accountability.
The auction comes as Nigeria continues to tighten enforcement against the illegal movement of petroleum products amid broader efforts to stabilise energy supply and protect public revenues.
Authorities warned smugglers that more crackdowns would follow.
“The era of impunity is over,” Aliyu said. “We will persist in tracking, intercepting and dismantling smuggling networks wherever they operate.”
He also urged residents of border communities to support law enforcement agencies with timely and credible information, saying public cooperation remained crucial in the effort to protect Nigeria’s economic interests and energy security.
