Customs Seizes Over 60,000 Litres of Petrol

• Customs Seizes Over 60,000 Litres of Petrol

Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said it has seized over 60,000 litres of petrol from smugglers since President Muhammadu Buhari closed the Nigerian land borders and instructed customs to halt the supply of petrol to filling stations situated at the borders, Abdullahi Maiwada, the Public Relations Officer, NCS Ogun 1 Command, disclosed.

Maiwada explained that at least 1,000 litres of petrol were seized from smugglers on a daily basis by the joint security agencies.

“We are working as directed by our corporate headquarters. The number of vehicles that are used in conveying fuel is increasing geometrically and this has increased the number of vehicles that pass through illegal routes. What I can say is that we are doing our best to suppress smuggling to its barest minimum and we are suppressing it.

“The seizure of petroleum products is on and we do that every day and we do auction them as enshrined in the law. The number of seizures we have shows that we are effectively manning the borders against smuggling of petroleum products outside the country.

“On a daily basis, we seize about 1,000 litres of petrol on the average. So we are suppressing smuggling,” Maiwada stated.

President Muhammadu Buhari closed the country’s land borders in August 2019 to halt smuggling and force decorum across the nation’s borders. While the decision has helped curb smuggling and moderated Nigeria’s daily fuel consumption from 60 million litres per day to 52 million litres, it has also led to the surge in the inflation rate as the nation continues to struggle with rising consumer prices amid an increase in demand.