Nigeria has ended smugglers’ business through fuel subsidy removal – NSA

….as NSC foils petrol smuggling in Kwara, seized 191 gallons and two tanker

The removal of the fuel subsidy by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has put an end to smuggling across the country, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, has said.

Ribadu, while stating this in Abuja on Wednesday at the ongoing Comptroller General of Customs (CGCs) conference, said only a few Nigerians were benefiting from the policy, adding that Nigeria was only subsidising neighbouring countries because of smuggling in the border communities.

He said, “I am from a border community, and every day, I keep getting calls about how Customs are making life difficult for smugglers. Surprisingly, the people aiding them also include the military, but now, everything is in the past, as all those generals and security forces enabling fuel smugglers have been taken away and replaced by a new team.

“Similarly, the subsidy that all of us are talking about that has brought NNPC to its knees was only serving neighbouring countries and not even Nigerians. We were subsidising Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Benin Republic, Ghana and the smart Nigerians who called themselves oil marketers,” he said.

The NSA attributed the large number of oil marketers in the country to the subsidy regime, which they benefited from.

“Nigeria is the only country in the world where everyone is an oil marketer because of subsidies. You can count about 100 filling stations from Abuja to Kaduna alone. However, the welfare we have given them is over, and the business of smuggling fuel across the border has also ended,” he said.

He further stated that the recent initiatives by the Nigeria Customs Service, especially Operation Whirlwind, to curtail smuggling have yielded significant results, among other efforts.

NSC foils petrol smuggling in Kwara, seized 191 gallons and two tanker

In the meantime, the Nigerian customs service seized 191 gallons and two trucks of smuggled petrol in Kwara state.

According to the report in the daily trust newspaper, the state Public Relations Officer and National Coordinator of Operation Whirlwind, Zakari Chado, disclosed this in a statement in Ilorin

The NSC said that the operation Whirlwind, led by Compt. Hussaini Ejibunu, in charge of the Kwara and Niger axis, seized the product from smugglers.

The state PRO of the Nigerian Customs Service further states the process of auctioning the product to the general public has begun.

He said, “The team intercepted 38 and 61 Kegs of 25 litres of petrol with a duty paid value of N2,970,000.”

“Another team led by Chief Superintendent of Customs, Waziri Mohammed, at about 11:30 pm around Gure/kusoboso, intercepted another 90 kegs of 25 litres of PMS with a duty paid value of N2,700,000” all in September.’’

According to the PRO, the two trucks with registration numbers FST-524 XG and JJJ-14-XQ, containing 33,000 litres of PMS each worth N79.2 million, were also caught and have been handed over to the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (NMDPRA) for further investigation.

One arrest has been made in connection to this smuggling activity.

He added that the Operation Whirlwind exercise is coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and commenced in May.