How DC Afeni’s intelligence-led crackdown, synergy is dismantling Ogun’s smuggling routes

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 are symptoms of a deeper disruption in long-established smuggling networks one 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, border towns with deep 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.

For instance, the recent ambushes on Customs patrol teams reportedly involving suspected drug and rice smugglers left some officers with injuries. Yet, rather than signalling weakness, security analysts see the attacks as evidence that smugglers are being squeezed.

“When enforcement becomes effective, criminal networks react violently,” a security analyst familiar with border operations noted. “You don’t attack patrol teams when business is smooth. You attack when routes are blocked and profits are threatened.”

Indeed, since Afeni assumed duty as Acting CAC in early December 2025, Ogun 1 Command has recorded a noticeable spike in seizures, intelligence-led interceptions and revenue generation an outcome that appears to have unsettled entrenched smuggling syndicates.

Customs data from the Command paints a clear picture of intensified enforcement. In 2025, Ogun 1 Command recorded 487 seizures with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N4.13 billion, a dramatic leap from the N1.79 billion DPV in 2024 an increase of over N2.3 billion.

Revenue performance followed the same trajectory, with the Command generating N454.67 million, representing a 47 per cent increase over the previous year.

These figures are not merely accounting milestones; they reflect a strategic shift towards intelligence-driven operations, sustained patrols and tighter inter-agency collaboration. Afeni has consistently attributed the results to actionable intelligence, deeper surveillance of known smuggling corridors and coordinated efforts with sister security agencies.

The scale and diversity of seized items further illustrate the breadth of the crackdown: 22,725 bags of foreign parboiled rice (equivalent to 37 trailer loads), 13,332 parcels of cannabis sativa, arms and ammunition, including dane guns, revolver pistols, cartridges and explosives, 2,669 kegs of PMS (66,725 litres), used vehicles, tyres, clothing, pharmaceuticals and even hard drugs such as crystal meth (28.90kg) and heroin (16kg).

Between January 1 and January 29, 2026 alone, fresh seizures with a DPV of N721.45 million were recorded, reinforcing the argument that the momentum has not slowed.

One defining feature of Afeni’s approach is his emphasis on intelligence and collaboration. Large consignments of narcotics such as 3,623 parcels of cannabis sativa were handed over to the NDLEA’s Idiroko Special Command, while arms, ammunition and explosives were transferred to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW). Seized pharmaceutical products were also handed to NAFDAC for forensic examination.

This inter-agency synergy has reduced duplication of effort and tightened the net around criminal supply chains, especially those linking drugs, arms and cross-border smuggling.

By framing smuggling and drug abuse as threats to community safety and youth futures, the Command has begun to erode local sympathy for smugglers.

Afeni has also issued stern warnings to traditional rulers and community members accused of aiding smugglers, making it clear that cultural authority will not shield offenders from prosecution.

This represents a subtle but important recalibration of border enforcement one that seeks to dry up community-level protection for illicit trade.

Internally, Afeni has moved to strengthen officers readiness. Recognising the physical and psychological toll of border patrols, he introduced mandatory weekly fitness exercises, aimed at ensuring officers are mentally alert and physically capable of responding to high-risk encounters. This focus on welfare and preparedness may partly explain Customs’ resolve in the face of violent resistance.

Notably, the Command has also reported a reduction in clashes between officers and host communities, suggesting that stricter enforcement is being balanced with improved civil engagement, a critical factor in sustaining long-term border security.

The violent backlash from smugglers appears to confirm what the statistics already suggest: Ogun’s smuggling economy is under unprecedented pressure.

With surveillance tightened, intelligence sharpened and enforcement sustained, the old certainties that once defined cross-border crime in the state 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 inherent in the job, but also a validation that their efforts are hitting home.

As Deputy Comptroller Afeni has repeatedly pledged to not only sustain but exceed current performance levels, analysts believe Ogun 1 Command may be witnessing a structural shift rather than a temporary surge.

If the momentum holds, the state’s long-standing reputation as a smuggling transit hub could gradually give way to a new reality, one where illicit trade is no longer business as usual, and where resistance, however violent, only tightens the noose.