Inside Ogun Border War: How Ag Compt. Afeni’s Crackdown Is Disrupting Smuggling Networks
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Barely weeks apart, two violent attacks on officers of the Ogun 1 Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have underscored a dangerous shift along Nigeria’s South-West border corridors.
For analysts and security watchers, these assaults are not isolated incidents; they reflect deeper disruption in long-established smuggling networks, linked directly to the renewed intensity and uncompromising posture of the Acting Customs Area Controller (CAC), Deputy Comptroller Olukayode Afeni.
For years, Ogun State has served as a strategic transit route for smugglers moving contraband such as rice, drugs, arms and petroleum products from porous border communities into major Nigerian markets. The geography favours illicit trade due to multiple bush paths, cross-border family ties and communities where smuggling has often been tolerated as a survival strategy.
What has changed, observers argue, is the level of pressure now being applied by Customs under Afeni’s leadership.
Recent ambushes on Customs patrol teams, reportedly involving suspected drug and rice smugglers, left some officers injured. Yet security analysts view the attacks as evidence that smugglers are being squeezed.
“When enforcement becomes effective, criminal networks react violently,” a security analyst noted. “You don’t attack patrol teams when business is smooth. You attack when routes are blocked and profits are threatened.”
Since Afeni assumed duty as Acting CAC in December 2025, Ogun 1 Command has recorded a spike in seizures, intelligence-led interceptions and revenue generation, unsettling entrenched syndicates.
Customs data shows that in 2025 the Command recorded 487 seizures with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N4.13 billion, up from N1.79 billion in 2024. Revenue also rose to N454.67 million, a 47 percent increase.
These figures reflect a shift towards intelligence-driven operations, sustained patrols and tighter inter-agency collaboration. Afeni attributes the results to actionable intelligence, deeper surveillance and coordinated efforts with sister agencies.
The scale of seizures highlights the breadth of the crackdown: 22,725 bags of foreign parboiled rice; 13,332 parcels of cannabis sativa; arms and ammunition; 2,669 kegs of PMS (66,725 litres); used vehicles, tyres, pharmaceuticals and hard drugs including crystal meth (28.90kg) and heroin (16kg). Between January 1 and 29, 2026 alone, fresh seizures worth N721.45 million were recorded.
A defining feature of Afeni’s approach is inter-agency synergy. Large consignments of narcotics were handed to the NDLEA, while arms and explosives went to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons. Seized pharmaceuticals were transferred to NAFDAC.
This collaboration has tightened the net around criminal supply chains linking drugs, arms and cross-border smuggling. By framing smuggling and drug abuse as threats to community safety and youth futures, the Command has also begun to erode local sympathy for smugglers.
Afeni has warned traditional rulers and community members accused of aiding smugglers, stressing that cultural authority will not shield offenders from prosecution. This signals a recalibration of border enforcement aimed at weakening community-level protection for illicit trade.
Internally, Afeni has strengthened officer readiness through mandatory weekly fitness exercises to improve alertness and response to high-risk encounters. This focus on welfare and preparedness may partly explain Customs’ resilience despite violent resistance.
The Command has also reported fewer clashes with host communities, suggesting stricter enforcement is being balanced with improved civil engagement.
The violent backlash from smugglers confirms what the statistics suggest: Ogun’s smuggling economy is under unprecedented pressure. With surveillance tightened and intelligence sharpened, old certainties are eroding.
For smugglers, the message is clear: routes are closing, risks are rising and tolerance is shrinking. For Customs officers, the attacks are a grim reminder of the dangers, but also validation that enforcement is working.
As Afeni pledges to sustain and exceed current performance, analysts believe Ogun 1 Command may be witnessing a structural shift. If momentum holds, the state’s reputation as a smuggling hub could give way to a new reality where illicit trade is no longer business as usual, and resistance only tightens the noose.
