The Nigeria Customs Service has intercepted prohibited imported goods worth more than N273 million in Cross River State as part of efforts to protect local manufacturers and preserve jobs.
Customs Area Controller for the Cross River/Calabar Free Trade Zone/Akwa Ibom Area Command, Comptroller Giwa Dauda, announced the seizure during a press briefing in Calabar on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. He said the operation was part of ongoing efforts to curb smuggling and illegal importation that threaten Nigerian production and investment.
Dauda said officers intercepted two 20-foot containers carrying 1,996 kegs of foreign refined vegetable oil along the Odukpani-Calabar Highway on June 14. He said the products, with a Duty Paid Value of N195.5 million, were concealed in a truck stopped during a routine patrol.
He explained that vegetable oil is one of the products in which Nigerian manufacturers have made major investments and said allowing banned foreign products into the market would undermine local production, discourage investment, and threaten jobs across the agricultural and manufacturing value chains.
According to him, the seized goods fall under the Federal Government’s import prohibition policy, which is aimed at boosting local production, promoting self-sufficiency, and strengthening the industrial base.
Beyond the vegetable oil seizure, the command also intercepted 1,500 used tyres and 105 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing. Dauda said the total Duty Paid Value of the prohibited items seized so far stood at N273.7 million.
He added that officers also recovered 800 litres of Premium Motor Spirit, bringing the command’s total petrol seizures in 2026 to 5,760 litres. The fuel was later disposed of under approved safety procedures because of its highly combustible nature.
Dauda warned smugglers and economic saboteurs to stop illegal importation, saying the practice weakens local industries, distorts market competition, and undermines government efforts to diversify the economy through industrialisation.