The command also retrieved 40 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 50 bales of used clothing, 28 cartons of 50 mg Diclofenac tablets, and 10 Jerry Cans of vegetable oils, according to Comptroller of the command Iheanacho Ernest Ojike, who was briefing newsmen in Birnin Kebbi on Thursday. The total Duty Paid Value (DPV) of these items was fourteen million, seven hundred and ninety-two thousand, four hundred naira.
He added, “The Federal Government will receive the proceeds from the auction of the seized PMS, which is expected to raise eight million, one hundred and seventy-eight thousand, one hundred eighty-three (N8, 178, 183).”
“In June, the team generated N25,847,611, or twenty-five million, eight hundred and forty-seven thousand, six hundred and eleven naira, which is a 67.6% increase from May.”
Concurrently, Hussien Ejibunu, the Comptroller of the National Coordinator Operation WHIRLWIND,
in a further briefing held in Birnin Kebbi, stated that agents of
Along the D axis of Operation Whirlwind, PMS items were seized in Sokoto Area Command.
“Since the operation is happening simultaneously across our national borders, I have already disrupted and dismantled the network of cartels/smugglers of Premium Motor Spirit nationwide,” he continued. “I also displayed another huge seizure to the general public.”
“Let me reiterate that this is an ongoing operation that will not stop until we apprehend those who are smuggling and diverting petroleum products around the nation.
“The Office of the National Security Adviser is coordinating this operation with other law enforcement agencies and the petroleum regulatory authority, NMDPRA.”
We have another seizure of PMS today totaling =661= Six Hundred and Sixty-One Kegs, some of which contain thirty and forty liters of products each. Additionally, there are another fifteen drums of PMS, each of which contains two hundred liters. All in all, this amounts to seventy-nine thousand five hundred liters of PMS with a DPV of only fifty five million seven hundred and twenty-nine thousand five hundred naira. The interception was conducted in the states of Sokoto and Kebbi, respectively.
He added that one filling station had been sealed off and sent over to the NMDPRA, a regulatory body, for additional inquiry.
“It is important to mention that the operatives communicate daily with our Control Room in Abuja, which is staffed by NMDPRA employees and NCS officers. From there, every truck that leaves the country is watched to make sure that the regulations governing product trucking, discharge, and even dispensing are followed, ensuring that the operatives address diversion issues equally.”
But he asked the cartel members to reconsider and enter the legal market, warning that the Nigerian Customs Service would pursue them as economic saboteurs because their illicit operations have no place in this world.
