The Nigeria Customs Service said it recorded about 65 seizures of vegetable oil products in 2025 and another 23 in 2026, with a combined duty-paid value of approximately N1.314bn. This is even as the service announced that it has intensified efforts to combat the smuggling of vegetable oil into the country, with plans to launch intelligence-driven special operations aimed at protecting local investments, preserving jobs and supporting the growth of the agricultural value chain.
He noted that many of the seizures were made along major smuggling corridors, including Seme and Idiroko, stressing that surveillance would also be strengthened in other identified vulnerable locations. Leading the industry delegation, the Founder of the Plantation Owners Forum of Nigeria, Dr Fatai Afolabi, commended the NCS for creating a platform for dialogue while drawing attention to the need to clamp down on vegetable oil smuggling into the country.
“Smuggling of vegetable oil will undermine local production, discouraging investment and threatening thousands of jobs across the value chain,” Afolabi stated. This is even as the service announced that it has intensified efforts to combat the smuggling of vegetable oil into the country, with plans to launch intelligence-driven special operations aimed at protecting local investments, preserving jobs and supporting the growth of the agricultural value chain.
“Smuggling of vegetable oil will undermine local production, discouraging investment and threatening thousands of jobs across the value chain,” Afolabi stated. Adeniyi said the service remains committed to tackling smuggling through strategic enforcement, intelligence gathering and stakeholder collaboration, adding that the NCS and operators in the vegetable oil sector share a common objective of protecting legitimate businesses, encouraging investment and strengthening the national economy.
“Smuggling of vegetable oil will undermine local production, discouraging investment and threatening thousands of jobs across the value chain,” Afolabi stated. The CGC explained that addressing smuggling requires sustained cooperation between government agencies and the private sector, particularly in sectors that contribute significantly to employment generation and economic development.
Related News Govt pushes shea processing to boost exports Tinubu links tax compliance to infrastructure delivery in FCT Shell attributes rising gas output to pricing reforms Also speaking, the Deputy Comptroller-General in charge of Enforcement, Inspection and Investigation, Timi Bomodi, highlighted the service’s achievements in curbing the illegal importation of vegetable oil products.
“Smuggling of vegetable oil will undermine local production, discouraging investment and threatening thousands of jobs across the value chain,” Afolabi stated. Also speaking, the Deputy Comptroller-General in charge of Enforcement, Inspection and Investigation, Timi Bomodi, highlighted the service’s achievements in curbing the illegal importation of vegetable oil products.
“We recorded about 65 seizures of vegetable oil products in 2025 and another 23 seizures in 2026, with a combined Duty Paid Value of approximately N1.314bn,” he said. He noted that many of the seizures were made along major smuggling corridors, including Seme and Idiroko, stressing that surveillance would also be strengthened in other identified vulnerable locations.
Leading the industry delegation, the Founder of the Plantation Owners Forum of Nigeria, Dr Fatai Afolabi, commended the NCS for creating a platform for dialogue while drawing attention to the need to clamp down on vegetable oil smuggling into the country. “Smuggling of vegetable oil will undermine local production, discouraging investment and threatening thousands of jobs across the value chain,” Afolabi stated.
“Smuggling of vegetable oil will undermine local production, discouraging investment and threatening thousands of jobs across the value chain,” Afolabi stated. Leading the industry delegation, the Founder of the Plantation Owners Forum of Nigeria, Dr Fatai Afolabi, commended the NCS for creating a platform for dialogue while drawing attention to the need to clamp down on vegetable oil smuggling into the country.