Customs’ Operation Whirlwind Disrupts Illegal PMS Supply Chains Feeding Insecurity in Adamawa
The Nigeria Customs Service has intensified its border security operations in Adamawa State with fresh breakthroughs against large-scale petroleum smugglers whose activities are believed to scuttle Nigeria’s economic growth and fuel criminal networks across border communities.
Addressing newsmen on Thursday, 4 December 2025, at Customs House in Yola, Adamawa State, the National Coordinator, ACG Kolapo Oladeji, who represented the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, stated that the Service recorded 55 seizures within eight weeks, cutting off over 184,000 litres of PMS and intercepting multiple boats used to ferry the product out of Nigeria.
He further disclosed that operatives deployed under Operation Whirlwind have intensified surveillance across Adamawa’s high-risk corridors, sealing smuggling routes notorious for channelling fuel towards non-state actors and organised criminal groups operating around the borders.
“Our mandate is clear: to protect Nigeria’s strategic resources and shut down all illegal supply chains that empower criminal elements.” ACG Oladeji said.
He added, “In keeping with the directives of the Comptroller-General, our teams have tightened the borders and made it extremely difficult for saboteurs to move PMS out of the country.”
The seizures, worth N181.6 million in duty-paid value, were made around flashpoints including Mubi–Sahuda, Farang–Belel, Gurin–Fufore, Maiha, Wuro-Bokki, Ribado waterways, Muninga and Bakin Kogi.
Items intercepted, according to him, include 2,642 jerrycans of 25-litre PMS, drums of 220-litre capacity, and two large wooden boats serving as transport vessels.
ACG Oladeji said the operation was launched to reinforce national energy security, noting that the illegal diversion of PMS contributes not only to economic losses but also strengthens the logistics of armed groups and cross-border criminal syndicates.
He described the smuggling network as “a grave threat to national stability,” adding that the NCS will continue to make border communities less hospitable for those enabling insecurity through illicit trade.
Commending the border communities for their intelligence support, urging them to remain vigilant, he said, “Your timely information has been invaluable. Security is a collective responsibility, and when you see something, say something.”
He also acknowledged the partnership of the media in educating citizens on the economic and security dangers associated with PMS smuggling.
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