By Stephen Ubanna
With barely three months on the saddle as the Area Controller of Ogun I, Command Idiroko, Ogun, home state of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Comptroller Godwin Otunla appears to be delivering on his pledge to “use all lawful means to combat smuggling activities in the state” and enforce Nigeria’s fiscal policy. Known as a smuggling-prone region, Ogun has long been a challenge for anti-smuggling efforts, but Otunla seems determined to turn the tide.
Compt. Otunla, may have known that he cannot afford to fail as he was, he was said to have sent a message to the officers and men of the Command including the importers with the Freight Forwarders that he will not ‘’tolerate economic sabotage’’ but ‘’be guided by the values of professionalism ‘’ in the discharge of his duties.
The tough talking Otunla, who was the second -in- Command to the no nonsense Compt. Bello Ahmadou Shuabu, a -one -time Officer in-charge, O/C, of the defunct Comptroller General of Customs Strike Force, Team A, Lagos as a DC, and now Comptroller Enforcement, Enforcement, Customs Headquarters , Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, appears to have reenacted what they did at the ad hoc team.
The Customs Comptroller was said to have deployed all the known strategies used in the defunct Strike Force, Team A, where he had played a prominent role in clipping the wings in the smugglers across the six south western states of Ogun, Lagos, Oo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo, to deal with the Ogun smugglers alone and enforce Legitimate trade.
Describing his officers as “dedicated, vigilant, and courageous,” Otunla is leveraging the commitment of his team to fulfill the core mandates of the Nigeria Customs Service: trade facilitation, revenue generation, and anti-smuggling operations. The strategic intelligence and field-tested methods adopted during his time in Lagos are now being applied to great effect across Ogun’s terrain. The state, according to Nigerian Immigration Service data, contains approximately 94 illegal border routes, corridors long exploited by smugglers. This sobering reality only strengthened Otunla’s resolve. He has fully mobilized his officers and ramped up surveillance, targeting these porous pathways with coordinated patrols and actionable intelligence.
Determined to succeed, Otunla also deepened inter-agency cooperation. He reinforced collaboration with key security and regulatory bodies such as the NDLEA, NAFDAC, DSS, the Nigerian Police, the military, and other vital stakeholders, including traditional institutions and local informants within the host communities. The involvement of border youth, who now play a supportive role in intelligence gathering and operational efficiency, has not gone unnoticed. “We do not take these partnerships for granted,” Otunla emphasized, acknowledging the vital grassroots backing the Command has received in the field.
It was not surprising why the Command Patrol Teams and Surveillance and the outstation officers, could effectively monitor the nooks and crannies of their jurisdiction in the south western state that smugglers and fraudulent traders are no longer finding it funny.
Giving an inside information, Compt. Otunla, who could beat his chest of keeping to the mandate of Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR,’’ strong commitment to safeguarding national security, promoting economic stability, and protecting healthcare of the citizenry’’, had said that CGC, and his Management Team consistent support was a source of blessing to the Command. He is right.
Between April24, 2025 and Friday, June 20, 25, the Command various Patrol Teams, Surveillance and outstations in the state were said to have made intercepted and seized large quantities of Contraband.
An elated Compt. Otunla, had said that the Command operatives five units of Single Barrel Dane Guns, 1,433, Live Cateridges, 1037 parcels of Cannabis Sativa, popular, Indian Hemp, produced from the South American country of Brazil, Ghana and other countries in the West and Central African sub-regions, and 2,627, bags of foreign parboiled rice of 50 Kg, each, produced from the Asian countries of India, Thailand and four units of used vehicles ,13,125 litres of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, popular, petrol, equivalent of 20 trucks load of petrol, including seven units of vehicles used as means of conveyance of some intercepted items, particular rice and jerrycans of petrol.
The Command, according to Compt. Otunla, had intercepted 29 pneumatic tyres as well, within the period under review, a clear message to the message to the unrepentant smugglers that there is no hiding place in any part of the state for them.
The Contraband were said to have been intercepted by the Command operatives in different parts of Ogun state, including Ado Odo axis, Abule Kazem/Igbo-Ora Road, Abeokuta axis, Imeko Afon axis, Idiroko/Owode axis and Ipokia axis.
The Customs Comptroller, who had described the continued smuggling of the Cannabis Sativa, arms and ammunition, into the country as worrisome, giving their far- reaching impact on the country’s youth population and national security, is leaving no stone unturned to clip the wings of the smugglers as security had been tightened up security in all the notorious smuggler routes in the state, particular, the Ipokia and Imeko Afon routes. Enough of the Command anti -smuggling operations. We turn to its revenue collection for the government. The Ogun I, Command, Area Controller, had said that ‘’prior to assumption of duty in late April 2025, the sum of N10,621,250.00, was collected and paid into the Federation Account but through renewed commitment, strategic realignment and blockade of various areas of revenue leakage, by following the footsteps of Compt. Babatunde Olomu, the Area Controller of the Apapa Command, the Command revenue figure was increased significantly to N42,297,240.00, by the end of May ,2025, meaning that the Command revenue for the first of 2025, might hit the N50 billion mark.
Hear Him: This improvement in the Command revenue collection reflects the deliberate efforts to block areas of revenue leakage, ensure fiscal policy compliance by traders and foster Legitimate trade across the approved borders in the state.
The Ogun I, Area Controller, may have laced the recent briefing at the Command, Idiroko premises with the official handover of the seized arms and ammunitions and explosive material to the NPF, Ogun state Command, which currently have Lanre Ogunlowo, Commissioner, for further investigation.
