Customs: VIP Petrol Smugglers Faces Harder Times In Adamawa, Taraba ,And Ogun States As Operation Whirlwind Operatives Clip Their Wings

By Stephen Ubanna

With the accusations and counter -accusations between the  Leadership of the Nigeria Customs service, NCS, and  the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, now baptized ,Nigerian Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, with the Passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, by National Assembly, signed into Law, in August 2020,  over smuggling of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, across the nation’s borders to the neighbouring  West African countries of Benin Republic, Niger,  and  the Central African country of Cameroun, may have encouraged Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR,  the Customs Comptroller General, who has the backing of President Bola Ahemed Tinubu, to set up  Operation Whirlwind,  a Special Operation Task Force to stop  the rot.

Until , he was removed from office  in June 2023,  Hamid Ali, a retired Army Colonel and a former Comptroller General of the NCS,  was said to have repeatedly   blamed Mele Kolo Kyari, led NNPCL,  for the high rate of smuggling petrol across the nation’ Land border areas. 

Asa prelude to stop the smuggling of petrol across the nation’s land border areas , the NCS, immediate past Customs Comptroller General was said to have propsed   to the Leadership of the state oil company to consider as a matter of priority’’ to establish   petrol  retail outlets in the neighbouring countries  but was ignored.

 There are indications that in  Ogun state , in  the south western geopolitical region , it has over 90 illegal routes used by the petrol smugglers to carry out their nefarious activities while in Adamawa, alone in the north eastern geopolitical  region, there are  over 80 of such  illegal routes used  by the unrepentant  smugglers

Adeniyi: CG, NCS

In setting up the ad-hoc team, the Customs Comptroller General was said to have declared that only officers and men of the service with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively o curb smuggling, particular, petrol, and other petroleum products to the neighbouring countries will be deployed to the team.

The Customs helmsman who was said to have highlighted the importance of the Special Task Force   was said to have given an insight of its operations stressing that ‘’it will be intelligent- driven’’ backed by political will at the highest level of government, meaning that no VIP, caught in the Act will be spared as a deterrence to others.

The Customs boss may have sounded it loud and clear that team under the Leadership of Compt.       

Compt. Ejibunu: Coordinator, Operation Whirwind, tackling petrol smugglers across Nigeria

Kehinde Hussain Ejibunu, who incidentally was the immediate past Area Controller of Federal Operations Unit , FOU, Zone A,  Ikeja, Lagos and his team members  have been mandated to go all out to stop the smuggling of petroleum products across the nation’s land border areas to the neighbouring countries   and ‘’ensure zero tolerance  for sabotage’’.

The Customs Comptroller General may have gladdened the heart of Compt.Ejibunu, when he aked him to put his best to bring the activities of the petrol smugglers to a halt. He was said to have made the Customs Comptroller who was said to have set a track record at FOU, Zone A, by making spectacular Contraband   seizures to understand that his anti-smuggling records at the Customs Interventionist unit covering the south western states of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo, is impeccable to deliver on his mandate.

He was said to have further made the Operation Whirlwind Coordinator to understand that the ad-hoc team was not set up to compete with the Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A,   Zone B,Kaduna, under the close watch of Compt. Bello Ahmadou Shuaibu, FOU, Zone C, Owerri and other interventionist Units and the  Joint Border Drills, across the country but to implement the existing structure of fighting petrol smugglers.

The Customs Comptroller may have read the handwriting   on the wall that the Customs Comptroller General will not take any excuse for an answer if the team fails to deliver on its mandate on the allegations of people sabotaging their efforts. This may have informed why the Operation Whirlwind Coordinator and his team members were said to have vowed to succeed in the national assignment.

 For now, much of the Special Tsk Force sting operations were said to be in the south western state of Ogun and north eastern state of Adamawa and Taraba, as Compt. Shuaibu and his Counterpart overseeing  the  Oyo and /Osun Command, were said to have effectively covered their areas of Jurisdictions, thus  making  the Operation Whirlwind Operatives irrelevant in the states covered by the two Customs Interventionist Units as their various  patrol teams have continued to make petrol seizures.

Given account of the Operations Whirlwind activities in the last five months, an elated Compt. Ejibunu, who could not hide his feelings had said that the Special Task Force had intercepted over 14 tankers load of petrol, worth over N500 million around border Communities in Ogun, Adamawa and other states of the Federation.

Operation Whirlwind, intercepted Jerrycans of Petrol in Adamawa state

On Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2024, the Customs Comptroller had said that the team which had acted on the mandate of the Comptroller General between October and November, alone, had confiscated about N80 million worth of petrol in the north eastern states of Adamawa and Taraba, that shares border with Cameroun.

He had said that the success recoded by the team in the two north eastern states were due ‘’to the unrelenting, uncompromising and team spirit of the officers, mandated to stop smuggling of petrol across the nation’s borders to the neighbouring countries.

He was said to have revealed that   the ad-hoc team had seized   1,124 Jerry cans  of PMS,  in the range of  25 litres, 40 litres  and 60 litres    capacity each  and 53 other drums  of 200 litres capacity each      being conveyed in  two fuel tankers   totalling  71,965 litres  . This in addition to the seizure of of five  vehicles  and two motorcycles  used as a means of transporting the petrol products from  Adamawa and Taraba to Cameroun, which are said to be  currently deposited  at the Government Ware House at the Adamawa /Taraba Command premises at Yola, capital of Adamawa state.

The Operation Whirwind Coordinator  may have sent a message to the VIP ,petrol smugglers in Adamawa, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar,  during ex-while President  Olusegun Obassanjo’s Administration and Presidential Candidate of the Opposition People’s Democratic Party , PDP, in the  February 25, 2023, election  won by the incumbent President Tinubu, to embrace genuine trade as his men, who are positioned at strategic locations  at Adamawa and Taraba are determined  to clip the wings of the VIP petrol smugglers and cause them severe financial loss.

The former FOU, Zone A, Ikeja, Lagos, former further Area Controller was said to have sent a message to the VIP, petrol smugglers    to be prepared for the worst as   the team will definitely achieve its mandate as well as  ‘’ reduce the rampant scarcity of petrol   and price instability, in Adamawa and Traba states.

Appealing to the Petroleum product marketers across the country to go about their business without any fear, of harassment, the Customs Comptroller was said to have made it clear to those that cares to listen that ‘’the Operation Whirlwind Operatives are after the economic saboteurs’’ until they turn a new leaf. Bad new news for the VIP Petrol smugglers.    

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