The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said it has intercepted a total of 800 jerry cans of 25 litres of PMS including a 33,000 litres truckload worth N53 million in Kwara State.
The Comptroller General of Customs Service, Bashir Adeniyi stated this on Monday during a familiarisation tour of the command in Ilorin, Kwara state.
He said the period of the seizure was from the middle of January to February 11, 2025 and complemented its ongoing crackdown on smugglers in the country.
The seizures were made differently at Baruten, Kaiama forest, Ilesha-Baruba, and Gure border towns, among others.
He described the Kwara border with Benin Republic as a very strategic axis adding that “you are going to be seeing senior officers more often than before now because of the development”.
According to him, with the launch of its “Operation Whirlwind”, NCS has also achieved significant results.
These achievements, he noted, also include the “sealing of 12 retail outlets for smuggling activities, 460,000 liters of PMS destined for neighboring countries, confiscation of 23 means of conveyance and over 8,000 kegs of PMS.
He added that 7 suspects have been arrested while 3 marketers are facing ongoing prosecution for regulatory offences since the operation was started.
Comptroller General Adeniyi said the sophistication of smugglers demand more than conventional approach adding that the persistent challenge of petroleum smuggling continues to pose a serious challenge to our economy.
“Since the implementation of the fuel subsidy removal by the government, we have observed a very disturbing trend in sophisticated smuggling operations across our borders.
“This is despite the expectations that fuel subsidies are expected to bridge the gap. There are lots of disparity that we still experience when we compare the fuel prices in our neighboring countries with what we have here.
“Petroleum prices in Nigeria now are below N1,000. Despite the fact that this figure seems to be higher, it is significantly lower when compared to other prices in neighbouring countries like Benin Republic and Cameroon which goes for around N1700 and N2,000 respectively in our local currency”, he stated.
He said despite “our efforts to curb these activities collaboratively, the lucrative arbitrage economy has continued to incentivise more sophisticated smuggling operations in the borders.
He warned those involved in smuggling activities to shun the act or face the full wrath of the law.
In his remarks the NCS Comptroller, Kwara Area Command, Comptroller Faith Ojeifo, said the command would ensure total fight against the activities of smugglers in the state.
He urged the residents of border communities to support the service with intelligence information on the activities of smugglers in their midst to enable it succeed.