It's been over 10 years that I had that unpleasant experience with Nigerian Customs and my life has never remained the same.
A little background story on how it all started:
As a fresh faced High school graduate in 2010, I was given two options by my family, either to further my education or go into business. I choose the later, I went to stay with my uncle who sent me to main market Onitsha to learn a trade which encompassed dealing on jeans though on wholesale level. I was done within 3 months and was given #150k to start my own business, a shop was already provided for me.

During this period I think there was a problem with Nigerian ports so most of the big importers were bringing in their goods through Cotonou port. The Naira had value then so most people that didn't have the financial means to import from China would go to Cotonou to buy goods too. Since my capital wasn't much, I would give my neighbor in the shop money to get goods for me, business was slow at first but improved when I got connected to my landlord who was a big importer of jeans through my uncle.

The man had the money but lacked the scope of the business which was what I brought to the table, he would go to China and import random designs which he would later dump in his warehouses to rot. I got close to him and started teaching him the rudiments of the business, I taught him what to import and when to import putting into consideration the time the cargo spends on sea. He trusted me and started giving me goods on credit.

I started going to Cotonou myself with the man's money, I would sell his goods, make a swift trip, turnover the money and make profits before returning the money to him. I could remember that #250k then was worth 1m cefa. With this method I made over 1m within a year, I was between 19-20 then and by far the youngest Oga plying that route, the other guys close to my age were all apprentices. I was making trips to Cotonou every blessed week and money was flowing in till tragedy struck.

I realized that the Cotonou route was risky when I started making the trip myself. Firstly the jeans were smuggled into Nigeria in order to evade import duties. After buying in Cotonou, the goods would be assembled in Seme border town where a crosser would then help to smuggle them into Nigeria. Now there were two ways of doing this, either through boot load which involved loading all your goods in a vehicle with a military escort, who would settle the custom officers or smuggling it in bits by sharing the goods to crossers like 4 bundles of jeans per person, the crossers would then disguise the jeans into many ways just to deceive the custom officers. Some ladies will make it look like they are carrying a baby and then cover it with hijab, while the men can wear 10 pairs if jeans at once. This method was safer than boot load because if anything goes wrong with boot load all the goods would be gone.

Everything was going well till a big man in our line called me and told me that he loved my hustling spirit and would like to take me to China on his next trip. Then between 2-3m could take someone to China for business, he asked me how much I had in total and I naively told him I had about 1.5m, he told me to round it up to 2m then he would personally help with my Visa stuff. Normally I don't go on trips with 100% of my capital, I had some reserve just in case but since I had a target to reach I had to go all in. A very wrong decision.

I went for the trip with all my capital and savings, the goods passed through all the custom checkpoints till it got to Alaba Alagun where the goods would be reassembled. We had an agent who was responsible of sending the goods to Onitsha.

I received the heart breaking call that customs had seized my goods in Benin, I was flabbergasted because jeans wasn't a contraband once it gets into Nigeria. We later discovered that my agent which happens to be my uncle sent the goods in a truck carrying used tires which was a serious contraband. It's noteworthy to mention that I had a fall out with my uncle because he deviated from our agreement and wanted me to serve him which was rebuffed by my family.

The remaining savings that I had was spent trying to secure the release of the goods. The goods were finally released over 8 months later with over 80% of them missing. One of the men that went on that trip with me that have goods worth over 10m nearly committed suicide because most of his capital was borrowed from exchangers. Some of us relocated to the village.

All attempts to get back on my feet over the years have proved abortive due to lack of substantial capital. I decided to go back to school after my other attempts at business failed but it wasn't easy either. I graduated over two years ago without a reasonable job and have been living from hand to mouth ever since, it's so bad that I can't even afford my school clearance 3 years after I graduated. My attempts at learning a digital skill couldn't blossom due to lack of a good PC and inability to afford steady data. At the age of 31 I've remained stagnant for over 12 years without a clear vision of where my life is headed. What once seemed like a promising life was truncated and became filled with unending struggle.

You were running illegal deals so you can't blame customs. That aside, if you graduated 3 years ago that means you must have finished your NYSC recently and must have saved enough money during NYSC.

31 is not a big deal, you can always start a businesses even at 37years of age. It's never too late to start again. That's the beauty business have and a difference from white collar Job

To the commenter above, how can a graduate save much money from NYSC if the person does not have the privilege to serve in a company that pays well and does not get financial support from friends and relatives?

Not everyone gets financial donations from friends and relatives during NYSC. Not everyone going for NYSC gets posted to an organisation that pays well. So, why is it assumed that everyone that goes for NYSC will save money from the NYSC?

To the poster, the downfall of a man is not the end of his life. But failure to rise up again may end his life. The failure starts with lack of courage. Don't lose hope. The worst thing that can happen to a person is a serious illness, not poverty or career delay.

Supreme145:
It's been over 10 years that I had that unpleasant experience with Nigerian Customs and my life has never remained the same.
A little background story on how it all started:
As a fresh faced High school graduate in 2010, I was given two options by my family, either to further my education or go into business. I choose the later, I went to stay with my uncle who sent me to main market Onitsha to learn a trade which encompassed dealing on jeans though on wholesale level. I was done within 3 months and was given #150k to start my own business, a shop was already provided for me.

During this period I think there was a problem with Nigerian ports so most of the big importers were bringing in their goods through Cotonou port. The Naira had value then so most people that didn't have the financial means to import from China would go to Cotonou to buy goods too. Since my capital wasn't much, I would give my neighbor in the shop money to get goods for me, business was slow at first but improved when I got connected to my landlord who was a big importer of jeans through my uncle.

The man had the money but lacked the scope of the business which was what I brought to the table, he would go to China and import random designs which he would later dump in his warehouses to rot. I got close to him and started teaching him the rudiments of the business, I taught him what to import and when to import putting into consideration the time the cargo spends on sea. He trusted me and started giving me goods on credit.

I started going to Cotonou myself with the man's money, I would sell his goods, make a swift trip, turnover the money and make profits before returning the money to him. I could remember that #250k then was worth 1m cefa. With this method I made over 1m within a year, I was between 19-20 then and by far the youngest Oga plying that route, the other guys close to my age were all apprentices. I was making trips to Cotonou every blessed week and money was flowing in till tragedy struck.

I realized that the Cotonou route was risky when I started making the trip myself. Firstly the jeans were smuggled into Nigeria in order to evade import duties. After buying in Cotonou, the goods would be assembled in Seme border town where a crosser would then help to smuggle them into Nigeria. Now there were two ways of doing this, either through boot load which involved loading all your goods in a vehicle with a military escort, who would settle the custom officers or smuggling it in bits by sharing the goods to crossers like 4 bundles of jeans per person, the crossers would then disguise the jeans into many ways just to deceive the custom officers. Some ladies will make it look like they are carrying a baby and then cover it with hijab, while the men can wear 10 pairs if jeans at once. This method was safer than boot load because if anything goes wrong with boot load all the goods would be gone.

Everything was going well till a big man in our line called me and told me that he loved my hustling spirit and would like to take me to China on his next trip. Then between 2-3m could take someone to China for business, he asked me how much I had in total and I naively told him I had about 1.5m, he told me to round it up to 2m then he would personally help with my Visa stuff. Normally I don't go on trips with 100% of my capital, I had some reserve just in case but since I had a target to reach I had to go all in. A very wrong decision.

I went for the trip with all my capital and savings, the goods passed through all the custom checkpoints till it got to Alaba Alagun where the goods would be reassembled. We had an agent who was responsible of sending the goods to Onitsha.

I received the heart breaking call that customs had seized my goods in Benin, I was flabbergasted because jeans wasn't a contraband once it gets into Nigeria. We later discovered that my agent which happens to be my uncle sent the goods in a truck carrying used tires which was a serious contraband. It's noteworthy to mention that I had a fall out with my uncle because he deviated from our agreement and wanted me to serve him which was rebuffed by my family.

The remaining savings that I had was spent trying to secure the release of the goods. The goods were finally released over 8 months later with over 80% of them missing. One of the men that went on that trip with me that have goods worth over 10m nearly committed suicide because most of his capital was borrowed from exchangers. Some of us relocated to the village.

All attempts to get back on my feet over the years have proved abortive due to lack of substantial capital. I decided to go back to school after my other attempts at business failed but it wasn't easy either. I graduated over two years ago without a reasonable job and have been living from hand to mouth ever since, it's so bad that I can't even afford my school clearance 3 years after I graduated. My attempts at learning a digital skill couldn't blossom due to lack of a good PC and inability to afford steady data. At the age of 31 I've remained stagnant for over 12 years without a clear vision of where my life is headed. What once seemed like a promising life was truncated and became filled with unending struggle.

All hope is not lost. Some of us who dived into entrepreneurship immediately after school had similar experiences. While some were able to bounce back swiftly owning to good support system some of us had to be very flexible and even though we haven't recovered fully, we yet have every reason to be grateful. At 31, you can still reset. Your advantage here is the fact that you can build and rebuild anything from the scratch. However, you may however need a job to 'regulate' you and not to limit you. It may be difficult to adapt but you need it to readjust and rebounce. You are very lucky to have experienced this in your prime and not in your spent age. Be encouraged, you can do it.

Such an interesting story.
All is I can say is that life is not a bed of roses, but don’t give up. You’re still young, there are many opportunities out there. Just pray and ask God for directions.
All is well.

What you guys call "illegal deals" are items that aren't illegal. They do selective approval most time in the border.

This story is the true story of almost every igbo man in Nigeria except for the few who deviated into bad business.

I like to be associated with them,they are fantastic men and women with great and unbelievable energy.

Keep it up my brother.

Let me ask u,what other thing are u planning to do aside employment?

I can see that the energy is still there,and u are not doing bad at all except for the fact that u have been unemployed and doing nothing at the moment.

1000Capacity:
You were running illegal deals so you can't blame customs. That aside, if you graduated 3 years ago that means you must have finished your NYSC recently and must have saved enough money during NYSC.

31 is not a big deal, you can always start a businesses even at 37years of age. It's never too late to start again. That's the beauty business have and a difference from white collar Job

I didn't go for NYSC, wrote my final paper at 29, results came out 2years later so I'm not eligible.

Nice2023:
This story is the true story of almost every igbo man in Nigeria except for the few who deviated into bad business.

I like to be associated with them,they are fantastic men and women with great and unbelievable energy.

Keep it up my brother.

Let me ask u,what other thing are u planning to do aside employment?

I can see that the energy is still there,and u are not doing bad at all except for the fact that u have been unemployed and doing nothing at the moment.

I've got some business ideas but raising capital has been a herculean task.