The days of heaping 50-kilo sacks of rice across the saddle of their motorbike and slipping a few notes to a customs officer are now gone.
With Nigeria having snapped its borders shut, the legions of motorbike riders who used to satisfy the nation's hunger for imported rice are lucky at best to sneak through a few packets of Basmati.
The smugglers risk more than just jail time if they try force or sneak across the border.
"They shoot us and kill us like goats," said Adewole, who asked for his full name not to be published, stuttering with anger.