Nigeria’s list of prohibited or restricted imports is as follows:
1. Live or dead birds including frozen poultry.
2. Pork, beef, bird’s eggs, excluding hatching eggs.
3. Refined vegetable oils and fats (includes mayonnaise).
4. Crude vegetable oil is NOT banned from importation.
5. Cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose, in solid form in retail packs.
6. Cocoa butter, powder and cakes.
7. Spaghetti/noodles.
8. Fruit Juice in retail packs.
9. Waters, including mineral waters and aerated waters containing added sugar or sweetening matter or flavoured, ice snow, other non-alcoholic beverages and beer and stout (bottled, canned or otherwise packed, but excluding energy or health drinks (liquid dietary supplements).

10. Bagged cement.
11. Medicaments as indicated below: Paracetamol tablets and syrups Cotrimoxazole tablets and syrups Metronidazole tablets and syrups Chloroquine tablets and syrups Haematinic formulations ferrous sulphate and ferrous gluconate tablets, folic acid tablets, vitamin B Complex Tablets (except modified released formulations). Multivitamin tablets, capsules and syrups (except special formulations) Aspirin tablets (except modified released formulation and soluble aspirin) Magnesium trisilicate tablets and suspensions. Piperazine tablets and syrups Levamisole tablets and syrups Clotrimazole cream

Ointments – penicillin/gentamycin Pyrantel pamoate tablets and syrups

Intravenous fluids (dextrose, normal saline, etc.)Waste Pharmaceuticals.

11. Soaps and Detergents in retail packs only.
12. Mosquito Repelant Coils.

13.Sanitary Wares of Plastics and Domestic Articles and Wares of Plastics (but excluding Baby Feeding bottles) and flushing cistern and waterless toilets.

14 Rethreaded and used Pneumatic tires but excluding used trucks tires for rethreading of sized 11.00 x 20 and above.

15.Corrugated Paper and Paper Boards, and cartons, boxes and cases made from corrugated paper and paper boards, toilet paper, cleaning or facial tissue, excluding baby diapers and incontinent pads for adult use.

16.Telephone Re-charge cards and vouchers.

17. Carpets and other textile floor coverings.

18. All types of Foot Wears, Bags and Suitcases but excluding Safety Shoes used in oil industries, sports shoes, canvass shoes all Completely Knocked Down (CKD) blanks and parts.

19. Hollow Glass Bottles of a capacity exceeding 150mls (0.15 liters) of all kinds used for packaging of beverages by breweries and other beverage and drink companies.

20. Used compressors and used fridges/freezers.

21. Used Motor Vehicles above fifteen (15) years from the year of manufacture.

22. Furniture, but excluding baby walkers, laboratory cabinets such as microscope table, fume cupboards, laboratory benches, Stadium Chairs, height adjustments device, base sledge, seat frames and control mechanism, arm guide and head guides. Also excluded are skeletal parts of furniture such as blanks, upholstered or unfinished part of metal, plastics, veneer, chair shell etc. Also excluded are Motor Vehicle seats and Seats other than garden seats or camping equipment, convertible into beds.

23. Ball Point Pens and parts including refills (excluding tip).

ITEMS THAT ARE ABSOLUTELY PROHIBITED INNCLUDE:
Air Pistols, Airmail Photographic, Printing Paper.

All counterfeit/pirated materials or articles including Base or Counterfeit Coin of any Country, Beads composed of inflammable celluloid or other similar substances.

Blank invoices, Coupons for Foreign Football pools or other betting arrangements, Cowries, Exhausted tea or tea mixed with other substances.

Implements appertaining to the reloading of cartridges.

Indecent or obscene prints, painting, books, cards, engraving or any indecent or obscene articles.

Manilas.

Matches made with white phosphorous.

Materials of any description with a design which, considering the purpose for which any such material is intended to be used, is likely in - the opinion of the president to create a breach of the peace or to offend the religious views of any class of persons in Nigeria.

Meat, Vegetables or other provisions declared by a health officer to be unfit for human consumption.

Piece goods and all other textiles including wearing apparel, hardware of all kinds' crockery and china or earthenware goods bearing inscriptions (whether in Roman or Arabic characters) from the Koran or from the traditions and commentaries on the Koran.

Pistols disguised in any form.

Second-hand clothing.

Silver or metal alloy coins not being legal tender in Nigeria.

Nuclear Industrial waste and other Toxic waste

Some spirits

Weapons and ammunition of any description which in the opinion of the Comptroller-General are designed for the discharge of any noxious liquid, gas or other similar substance.

BESIDES THE IMPORT RESTRICTIONS BY THE NIGERIA CUSTOMS SERVICE -- The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2015 restricted access to foreign exchange at the official window for importers of several items. Instead, importers of the under-listed items source foreign exchange from the parallel market where the price of forex is significantly higher than the official rate. However, in May 2017, the CBN lifted the restriction on importers whose cumulative transactions are $20,000 and below per quarter.

Items which are ineligible for Foreign Exchange at the CBN’s Official Window are as follows:

Rice
Cement
Margarine
Palm kernel/Palm oil products/vegetables oils
Meat and processed meat products
Vegetables and processed vegetable products

Poultry chicken, eggs, turkey
Private airplanes/jets
Indian incense
Tinned fish in sauce (Geisha)/sardines
Cold rolled steel sheets
Galvanized steel sheets
Roofing sheets
Wheelbarrows
Head pans
Metal boxes and containers
Enamelware
Steel drums
Steel pipes
Wire rods (deformed and not deformed)Iron rods and reinforcing bard
Wire mesh
Steel nails
Security and razor wire
Wood particle boards and panels
Wood Fibre Boards and panels
Plywood boards and panels
Wooden doors
Toothpicks
Glass and Glassware
Kitchen utensils
Tableware
Tiles-vitrified and ceramic
Textiles
Woven fabrics
Clothes
Plastic and rubber products, polypropylene granules, cellophane wrappers
Soap and cosmetics
Tomatoes/tomato pastes
Eurobond/foreign currency bond/share purchases