The House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise has expressed serious concern over the increasing smuggling of illicit drugs into Nigeria and the diversion of imported finished goods to Free Trade Zones (FTZs) to evade customs duties—leading to a reported revenue loss of over ₦1.6 trillion.
Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Leke Abejide, made the revelations during an oversight visit to the Lagos Free Trade Zone. He stated that the committee has received multiple reports of finished goods being illegally routed through FTZs to bypass duty payments, often in collusion with some licensed customs agents and officials.
“This is economic sabotage,” Abejide said. “Just recently, over 100 trucks carrying imported items were seen lined up to offload in a free trade zone in Kano. These are not raw materials—they should be headed to bonded terminals.”
He emphasized that the House will investigate these practices dating back five years and work to recover all lost revenues. The committee also aims to prevent future abuse of the FTZ policy, which is meant to support industrial growth, not enable smuggling or revenue evasion.
Abejide further highlighted that some companies operating within FTZs are exploiting legal provisions allowing deferred duty payments, often underpaying or avoiding them altogether.
On the issue of drug trafficking, the chairman raised the alarm over the increasing influx of illicit substances such as cannabis sativa, Canadian loud, and tramadol into the country. He blamed the problem, in part, on the lack of functional scanners at the ports and advocated for capital punishment for those caught smuggling drugs.
“We are putting the lives of our youth at risk. The absence of scanners is a major factor, and we must prioritize installing them to stem the tide of drug smuggling,” he stated.
In his briefing, the Area Comptroller of the Lagos Free Trade Zone, Olanrewaju Olumoh, disclosed that between January and March 2025, the Command intercepted two containers of tramadol and a trailer-load of unregistered drugs. Despite being the newest customs command, he added, it had already generated ₦113 billion in revenue within the first quarter of the year.