By Stephen Ubanna
Those who think that Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, popular, petrol, dealers who get their allocation from the Nigerian National petroleum Corporation, NNPC, now batptised, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company with the passage of the Nigerian Petrolum Bill, which had been assented into Law in 2019, by President Muhammadu Buhari, for sale in the Nigerian market but have a dubious intention of diverting to the Republic of market may no longer have a breather, would have a breather to carry out their nefarious activities.
This is because Comptroller Bello Mohammed Jibo, Area Controller Seme Command appears to be following bumper to bumper to ensure that they lose both the product and money used in lifting the product from the Lagos petrol depot to the Nigerian government.
Many believe that the problems of the VIP petrol smugglers may have started when the Seme Customs Area Controller established the Operations Team, similar, to Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A, Ikeja , Lagos, Lagos Roving , headed by Abubakar Dankingari, an Assistant Comptroller, who has said taken it upon himself with the support of the Customs Comptroller and the Team members to to embark on continuous surveillance of the Creeks and beaches,within the Seme Jurisdictions and Badagry axis.
who even as Chief Super intent and Patrol Leader was a thorn in the flesh of the West African country of Ghana grown Cannabis, foreign par boiled rice and vehicle smugglers around the Seme border jurisdictions to compliment the efforts Command Enforcement Unit.
AC. Dakingari, and his Team members may have carried out a surveillance of the Creeks and water ways around the Seme Jurisdictions to know how the VIP petrol and Cannabbis Sativa smugglers carry out their nefarious activitieses, which an to be able to strike without missing target, according to an informed source..
A source told The Magazine that that there are over 15 Creeks, beaches and water sides along the Lagos- Seme and Badagri axis used by the smugglers to carry out their nefarious activities of smuggling imported subsidised Petroeum products, particular, petrol, meant for the Nigerian market into Benin Republic and in turn smuggle FroReign par boiled rice imported through the Automous port of Benin, Cotonou, and Canabbis Sativa, grown from Ghana, and other West African counties into the Nigerian market.
The Seme Customs boss may have been emboldened to deal with the VIP petrol dea who are well connected in NNPC and the ministry of Petroleum Resources, which currently has Temipre Silyva, a former governor of Bayelsa state and , now the minister of state because Hameed Ali, a retired Army Colonel and Comptroller General, Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, had banned the sales of Petroleum Products at filling stations 20 Kms to the land border across the country . the decision was said to have been taken at the instance of the Katsina state born Nigerian President to stop its diversion of Petroleum Products meant for the Nigerian market to neighbouring West African countries of Benin, Niger, Chad and the Central African country of Cameroon market.
Between December 2021, alone, the AC. Dankigari, who was said to have had all the support of the Seme Customs Area Controller and his team members were said to have intercepted made seizures of thousands of 25 -30 litres of Jerry cans of Pterol each from the various Crreks and waterways , within the Seme jurisdiction and Badagry axis.
Take for instance, in December 1, 2021, the Seme Command Operations Team, an informed senior police officer had confirmed said the team had dwarfed the Command Enforcement unit, headed by a Deputy Comptroller, because of its daring moves as it had intercepted 1,050 Jerry cans of 30 litres each of petrol along the the seme-Badary water ways.
Valuation experts had put the Duty Paid Value , DPV, at N5.4 milllion. AC. Dankigari and his Team members, may have refused to be compromised as they have used the seizure to send a message to the VIP petrol smugglers that” it is no longer going to be business as usual”.
The VIP petrol smugglers were aid to have used third parties to penetrate the ranks of the AC. Dankigari Team members but were disappointed at the response they get in return as they have continued to make more loses to the government. Early last April he Team, had intercepted 700 Jerry cans of petrol of 30 litres each in one of the creeks along the Lagos- Badagry water ways.
The Command may have kept it a closely guided secret because of intelligence report making the rounds that another consignment is being prepared by another set of VIP smugglers to be taken to the Creek where it will loaded into smaller boats for the Beniniois market.They may have had the impression that AC. Dakingari and his Team members had relaxed that they took the bold initiative to move the product to the Creeks where it was eventuall loaded into smaller boats to be taken to the Benin Republic market where the receivers were already waiting for it with their trucks at the agreed location.
Abduhai Hussai, a Deputy Superintendent of Customs and the Seme Command spokesperson, had said that the Command had made a ‘huge interception 1,600 Jerry cans of petrol of 30 litres each on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, along the notorious Seme-Badagry water ways. Given an insider information of the Valuation unit report of the DPV of the intercepted product, based on the current asking price of a litre of petrol at the filling stations in the Nigerian market, the thousands o Jerry cans of product of 30 litres each was said to have had a street market value of N11, 579,040.00 million.
The Magazine had cited AC.Dankigari, and some of his officers, around the Government Warehouse where the evacuated Petrol products intercepted from the Creek where the huge petrol a seizure were deposited, still looking calm and calculating on the next operations.There is no gain saying the fact that between December 2021 and now, the Command so far had intercepted 10,865 Jerry cans of petrol or 325,950 litres of petrol, or 25 tanker loads of petrol of 33,000 each with a DPV of N65, 214,560.00 million.
An elated Jibo had attributed the huge interception of petroleum products within the Seme Jurisdictions, ‘’to Professionalism, discipline, commitment and dedication of officers and men of thommand.
He noted that ”the good working relationship with the police, NAFDAC and other sister security agencies at the Seme Land border” as well as ”the cordial relationship with the host communities , particular, in the area of giving out credible information, to the Command, had helped ”to boost its intensified suppression of smuggling’’, thus sending message to the VIP petrol smugglers to turn a new leaf or be ready to continuously be losing their thousands Jerry cans of Petrol arranged for smuggling into the Benin Republic market to the government.
The Seme Customs Comptroller may have taken advantage of showcasing the 1,600 Jerry cans of petrol intercepted within the Lagos-Badagry water ways to hand over the prohibited items intercepted by the Command tofficials of Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Adency, NDLEA and National agency for Food and Drug Administration at the Seme /Karke Land border.
The Contraband items that were said to have been had over to the two government agencies included 100 cartons of tramadol, 0f12 0mg, each and 132 packets and another 77 packets of different miligrams. This is in addition to 306 parcels of Cannabis Sativa , weighing 2.8 mg, 86 pieces of Apetamin, 302 pieces of dynelwell syrup, 50 piecws of baba yellow syrup and three sachets of rofhymol, 32 bottles of cough syrup and 99 cartons of fearless energy drink and 139 cartons of expired drinks, in the spirit of inter-agency relationship to be destroyed. The DPV of the contraband Pharmaceutical products and the the Cannabbis Sativa including the expired drinks , earmarked for destruction , by NDLEA and NAFDAC, was put at about N1.481 billion, which is a big loss to the transit cargo importers engaging the services of smugglers to bring into the country through inappropriate routes.
Comptroller Jibo was said to be full of Appreciation to Colonel Ali, rtd, and his Management Team, for their support to the Command, both in terms of supply of operational vehicles and other working equipment to do their job, which had had forced most of the high profile and low profile smugglers to go underground for fear of been arrested and prosecuted in a Court of Law.
