Customs Seizes 56 Containers at Onne Port, Puts Duty-Paid Value at ₦5.53bn
The Nigeria Customs Service says it has seized 56 containers at Onne Port in Rivers State containing vegetable oil, used clothing and foreign tomato paste, with a combined duty-paid value of ₦5.53 billion.
Comptroller-General of Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi announced the seizures during a September 15 briefing at Onne Wharf.
Customs said the consignments were imported through the Onne Free Trade Zone and declared as machinery and spare parts.
The ₦5.53bn figure is Customs’ duty-paid valuation of the seized goods. It is not cash recovered, government revenue collected or an independently established economic loss.
Customs Gives Breakdown of Seized Goods
According to Customs, the consignments included:
- 45 containers of vegetable oil, with a reported duty-paid value of about ₦4.2525bn;
- nine 40-foot containers of used clothing, valued at about ₦1.04558bn; and
- two 20-foot containers of foreign tomato paste, valued at about ₦232m.
Customs said each of the vegetable-oil containers held 1,050 jerry cans of 25 litres.
Customs Alleges False Declaration
Adeniyi said Customs’ intelligence and risk-based review identified consignments linked to operators using free trade and special economic zones.
The service says physical examination found goods different from those declared and alleges that concessions intended to support manufacturing and other legitimate economic activity were being abused to bring restricted goods into the domestic market.
Those remain Customs findings and allegations arising from an enforcement action.
IDNN has not independently examined the underlying declarations, concession documents or records identifying the affected importers.
Investigation Could Lead to Prosecution
Customs says investigations are continuing and that prosecution could follow.
That does not establish criminal guilt.
Any importer, company, agent or other party later identified in a charge would remain subject to due process until responsibility is determined through the legal process.
Why the Free-Zone Question Matters
Free trade and special economic zones are intended to support investment, manufacturing and trade through incentives and concessions.
The Onne seizure raises a wider accountability question over whether those concessions are being used within their authorised scope and what controls exist to detect abuse before goods enter the domestic market.
The key issue is therefore not only the headline valuation, but also which concessions were used, which operators were involved and what regulatory safeguards failed before Customs intervened.
What Happens Next
IDNN will track the Customs investigation, any charges filed, the identities and responses of affected importers or companies, and any response from free-zone regulators.
Any later court filing should be reflected using the exact legal status contained in the charge documents.
