National Coordinator of Operation Whirlwind, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Kehinde Ejibunu, says the smuggling of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) products has pushed up the price to N900 per litre.
Ejibunu revealed this while announcing the seizure of 26,950 litres of petroleum products worth about N19 million, being smuggled out of the country into the Republic of Benin.
This was as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that the average retail price consumers paid for petrol for April 2024 was N701, indicating (176.02 per cent increase) to April 2023’s N254.06.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) sells below N600 per litre.
During a briefing at the Ogun State Command Office of NCS in Abeokuta, he said the activities of smugglers usually aid the artificial scarcity of petroleum products in the country, leading to an increase in prices.
Giving further details of the team’s activities, he said the products, which consisted of 978 kegs of 25 litres totalling 26,950 litres, were impounded in Zone A of the Service, comprising Lagos and Ogun states, under two weeks.
The special squad was set up two weeks ago by the Comptroller-General of NCS, Bashir Adeniyi, to add bite to efforts to crack down on the criminals smuggling petroleum products outside the country.
“In just about two weeks of operation, the team intercepted 26,950 litres of premium motor spirit worth N19 million,” he said
Ejibunu lamented the menace of smugglers on the Nigerian economy and the need for synergy among relevant agencies to win the fight against the saboteurs.
