By Stephen Ubanna
For years, VIP, Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, popular, Petrol smugglers, had made Kebbi, a state in the north western geo-political region of Nigeria, which shares boundary, with the neighbouring West African countries of Niger and Republic of Benin a haven for their illegal activities.
There is no gain saying the fact that the hotspots of the petrol smugglers in the state which includes Bagudo, Lolo, Samiya, Bunza, Dankingari, Kamba and Zuru/Mahakala, may have encouraged past and present, National Coordinator of Operation Whirlwind to step up their surveillance and intelligence gathering in the state to cage the VIP smugglers.
The VIP petrol smugglers had expected that with the exit of Kehinde Hussain Ejibunu, an Assistant Comptroller General, ACG, who never gave them a breather, the coast would be clear for them to continue their illegal business activity of smuggling Tanker- load and hundreds of jerrycans of 25 litres each of petrol from Nigeria to Niger and Benin Republic. They got it wrong.
With barely two months of taking over as the new National Coordinator, of the Operation Whirlwind, ACG. Kola Oladeji, who has the mandate of Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, the Customs Comptroller General, to deal decisively with the petrol smugglers appears to have sent a message to the VIP petrol smugglers that” there is no hiding place for them in any part of Kebbi, Sokoto, Taraba, Adamawa, Taraba and other parts of Nigeria.
ACG, Oladeji, who at one time, was the Area Comptroller, of Federal, Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A, Ikeja, Lagos, the nation’s Commercial nerve centre, overseeing the six south western states of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti, may have used the xperience garnered in fighting against the vehicle, foreign rice and other contraband smugglers, in caging the VIP, PMS,smugglers, who are now running from pillar to post in Kebbi and other parts of the north western and north eastern regions.
This evident going the recent seizure of a truck, with registration number of NSR26ZL, loaded with 60,000 litres of PMS, at a border, in Kebbi state. The Consignment, according to informed Customs reports was originally meant for delivery in Borno state but was allegedly diverted to Kebbi state for smuggling out of the country, when it fell into the waiting hands of the Operation Whirlwind Operatives.
The driver of the tanker loaded with the 60,000 litres of VIP, PMS, who was engaged by the VIP smuggler in taking the Consignment to the north western state of Kebbi instead of Borno state, may have known thathis client had lost out in the business when he was flagged down by Operation Whirlwind Officers at the Kebbi border. As a profession smugglers’ driver, he was said to have tried to compromise the officers to continue the journey but was rebuffed.
The intercepted truck load of PMS, was said to have been kept in the custody of the Kebbi state Command Government Warehouse. The Command which has, Compt. Matawalle Ibrahim, as the Area Controller, was said to have made all the necessary arrangements for the physical handover of the truck -load of petrol to the Nigerian Mainstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, for proper documentation and further investigation.
In the spirit of inter-agency collaboration, the intercepted tanker-load OF petroleum products which was said to have been seized under suspicious circumstances by the Operation Whirlwind officers was handed over by the Kebbi Command, Area Controller to the Farouk Ahmed, led NMDPRA
Compt. Ibrahim, who has the mandate of ACG. Oladeji, the National Coordinator of the Operation Whirlwind to hand over the truck load of petrol to NMDPRA, was said to have acted as directed. The Consignment which was received on Tuesday, October, 28, 2025, by Jamilu, on behalf of theNMDPRA, Coordinator, Sokoto/Kebbi, states as a way ‘’to promote transparency and accountability and further ensure proper handling, investigation and disposal of the seized petroleum products ‘’ may have encourage to do more.
Ntongha Okoi Edet, a Deputy Comptroller, and Commander, Operation Whirwind, Zone B, Kaduna, and other senior officers including those of NMDPRA, were said to have graced the epoch-making event in Birnin -Kebbi, the Capital of Kebbi state.
Given an insider information, Compt. Ibrahim, had said that the intercepted truck-load of PMS, was suspected of having been diverted by the driver. It was therefore not very surprising why the officers re-routed to the Kebbi Command premises for proper interrogation of the driver. it was detained to attract the attention of the owner who never showed up.
An appreciative NMDPRA, Jamilu, who had acknowledged the physical handover of the intercepted truck-load of PM and final documentation, at the Kebbi Command premises had commended the NCS for its ‘’sustained efforts in making PMS, seizures under Operation Whirlwind, was emohatic that it has reduced to the barest minimum smuggling of petroleum products across the nation’s borders with the neighbouring countries of Benin, Niger and the Central African country of Cameroun.
It would be recalled that the ACG.Oladeji, led Operation Whirlwind, had on October, 17, 2025, delivered two earlier intercepted trucks containing about 105,000 litres of PMS. This may have informed why he has described’’ the collaboration between the NCS and NMDPRA’’ as an example of inter-agency synergy’’.
