The Nigeria Customs Service has announced plans to auction Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, seized from suspected smugglers en route to Cameroon.
The fuel was intercepted by the Service’s Special Anti-Smuggling Taskforce, Operation Whirlwind, in the Calabar axis of Cross River State.
The National Coordinator of the taskforce in Zone C, DCC Abubakar Aliyu, disclosed this on Tuesday in Calabar, stating that the Duty Paid Value (DPV) of the seized product stands at N14,375,000.
According to him, the operation followed weeks of intelligence gathering and targeted surveillance.
“Within the past several weeks, acting on credible and actionable intelligence, our operatives successfully dismantled a coordinated network involved in the illegal exportation of Premium Motor Spirit to neighbouring Cameroon,” he said.
Aliyu explained that operatives intercepted 235 jerrycans of 25 litres each and 40 drums of 200 litres each, bringing the total volume seized to 14,375 litres.
He added that the products were confiscated through sustained surveillance and strategic interdictions across identified flashpoints, including Ikang, Bakassi, Ikom and Ikot-Idareka.
“The total Duty Paid Value of the seized petroleum products stands at Fourteen Million, Three Hundred and Seventy-Five Thousand Naira (N14,375,000),” he stated.
Aliyu noted that the petroleum products were being diverted for illegal export in clear violation of Nigeria’s laws regulating the distribution and movement of petroleum products.
He reaffirmed that the Customs Service remains committed to safeguarding the nation’s economy, protecting critical national assets and combating smuggling and other forms of economic sabotage.
Also speaking, the Zone C Area Comptroller, Momodu Dauda, said the seizure highlights the Service’s resolve to enforce existing laws and suppress smuggling activities that undermine legitimate trade and economic stability.