By Ajibola Adedoye
In a shot to conquer the war against the smuggling of petroleum products in Nigeria, the Comptroller- General of Customs (CGC) Adewale Adeniyi has comforted his commitment to reinvigorate the being collaboration between the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited to effectively combat the smuggling of petroleum products outside Nigeria.
In a meeting with the delegates from NNPC on Friday 5, 2024, at the headquarters of the NCS in Abuja, CGC Adeniyi stated that smuggling constitutes a severe public burden on the Nigerian frugality. He said the current habitual that exists in the prices of energy between Nigeria and the neighbouring countries creates a veritably huge incitement for smuggling, and that’s why NCS, through ‘Operation Whirlwind’ is working with other stakeholders to consolidate their sweats in icing that smuggling of Premium Motor Spirits (PMS) is brought to the barest minimum.
He said, “The operations that we’ve done have thrown up a number of issues, but despite them, I’m happy we’ve made fantastic seizures from different corridor of the country, and we saw the ingenious ways in which bootleggers take inventories from depot and place in their stations. The stations might look empty from the front. Still, directly before, they’ve linked the hoses through some artificial holes created in their walls into staying jerrycans and vehicles from where they take them across the borders”.
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Still speaking, he said, “It’s an act of profitable sabotage, and those that we’ve seen, we’ve arrested them, sequestered the product that were seen, we sealed up the stuffing stations, and we’ve handed them over to the nonsupervisory authorities to handle. Some form station drivers tactically concoct means to smuggle energy in a way that isn’t conspicuous.
Adeniyi bared that fighting the heinous crime is a significant operation, creating a considerable burden on NCS coffers, but it has been a veritably satisfying exercise for NCS. He said, “We felt that we could have a veritably good cooperation with NNPC for us to sustain this operation over a period of time”.
Expressing his excitement, the CGC said, “We’re happy we had a secondment from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). But customs need a situation room where we get data that speak on the issue of enhancing our capacity. Also, our labor force will be motivated and taken care of, so they will not be in a situation of compromising ”.
Also, the fellow of ‘Operation Whirlwind ’ Comptroller of Customs, Hussein Ejibunu, stated that the operation started 5 weeks agone
and has recorded great palms. He said, “There’s no operation that doesn’t have challenges, and we’ve been suitable to put them away with the help of the CGC. We’ve dived energy smuggling not only in Adamawa but across the nation. We lately showcased about 79000 litres of energy that was about to be smuggled out of Kebbi state. This is an suggestion that we’re desirous to do the job, but we need absolute support of the border communities and other agencies ”.
Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited, stated that the Smuggling of PMS is a major National challenge for the country, and he requested the CGC’s help to minimise the smuggling of PMS outside Nigeria.
He revealed that the volume of energy smuggled has reduced drastically due to the establishment and sweats of ‘Operation Whirlwind ’. He said, “We’re available to give any necessary support to combat this crime in our borders. We’re happy to work with you, and we appreciate you for the enormous impact of your collaboration so far ”.
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