Customs storms riverine communities in Ogun, intercepts N13.2m worth of petrol

Operatives of the Operation Whirlwind of the Nigeria Customs Service, at the weekend stormed some riverine communities in Ogun State and intercepted about N13.2 million worth of fuel about to be illegally exported from the country.  This latest recovery brings to a total of about N234 million worth of petroleum product so far recovered since […]

Operatives of the Operation Whirlwind of the Nigeria Customs Service, at the weekend stormed some riverine communities in Ogun State and intercepted about N13.2 million worth of fuel about to be illegally exported from the country.

 This latest recovery brings to a total of about N234 million worth of petroleum product so far recovered since the Anti-Bunkering Unit of the service was set up by the Comptroller General of Customs, Wake Adeniyi.

The Coordinator of the NCS’s Anti-Bunkering Unit, Husseini Ejibunnu, disclosed this while addressing journalists in Ikeja at the weekend.

He said that the latest consignments were intercepted in different parts of Ogun State, adding that the first interception of N197 million worth of petrol was done about three weeks ago in Adamawa State.  This was closely followed by another interception in Ogun State valued at about N19 million.

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The Anti-Bunkering Unit again intercepted about 13, 750 liters of petrol worth N13.2 million in Ogun State.

“We seized a total of 760 jerry cans in 25 litres each equivalent to 18, 750 litres with duty paid value of N13.2m,” Ejibunnu said.

He also explained that the successes recorded were a clear manifestation of the determination and resilience of the officers to achieve the goals set before them.

“It was a three-day operation, the first one was done at Imeko, the second one was carried out at Owode while the third was conducted at Ijowun,”

According to him, some of the seizures were brought to the FOU, Zone A.

The coordinator disclosed that a total of nine vehicles used as means of conveyance were also impounded. “Seven of the vehicles are now in Lagos while two are parked at Abeokuta.”

Ejibunnu said that two suspects were arrested in the previous operations while none was arrested in the recent operation and vowed that suspects who fled from the scene would be tracked down through the recovered vehicles.

He also disclosed that the Comptroller General of Customs, Wale Adeniyi, is putting together a legal team that would prosecute those arrested.