The distribution of petroleum products, including Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) has been suspended in Adamawa and Taraba states.
All filling stations in the contiguous states, including those operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), are currently under lock and key.
The measure followed alleged unlawful confiscation of PMS and fuel trucks by operatives of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) special anti-smuggling force, codenamed “Operation Whirlwind.”
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Chairman, Adamawa/Taraba zone, Dahiru Buba, who made the allegation in Yola, the state capital, ordered all filling stations to close business, saying “Customs officers have abandoned their designated areas of operation at the borders and are now targeting legitimate businesses inside towns, causing financial losses, artificial scarcity and hike in products’ prices.
“We do not know when the Nigeria Customs Service was assigned the responsibility of sealing petrol stations and impounding trucks under any guise whatsoever,” he stated.
While calling on the Customs Service operatives to cease its illegal operations, Buba noted that he had transmitted a formal complaint to the Comptroller General of Customs for necessary action.
As it stands now, clusters of illegal vendors with dozens of kegs laden with the highly inflammable product are making brisk business across Yola metropolis; not minding the fire disaster threat the illicit business posed.
Efforts to reach the Assistant Controller of Operation Whirlwind in charge of zone ‘D’ were unsuccessful, as his mobile phone was switched off.
However, another officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said “The Assistant Controller will brief the press tomorrow (Tuesday).”
