Breaking: Filling stations in Adamawa, Taraba on strike over ‘Customs illegal arrest’ of trucks

All filling stations in the contiguous states, including those operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), are currently under lock and key.

The distribution of petroleum products, including Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), has been suspended across Adamawa and Taraba states.

During a press conference in Yola, the state Chairman of IPMAN, Alhaji Dahiru Buba, stated that customs officers around the borders were now targeting legitimate businesses of IPMAN members and confiscating their products.

He noted that this action is causing huge financial losses to members and leading to artificial scarcity and price hikes of petrol for the general public.

Buba alleged that five of his PMS trucks were seized, prompting him to write to the Comptroller General of Customs. “Eventually, four of them were returned with an apology letter,” he said, adding that nothing had been heard from the Customs after six more of his trucks carrying PMS were seized and he wrote again to the comptroller general. “Several other illegal seizures were made in various privately owned filling stations,” he lamented.

He urged the customs service to cease its ‘illegal’ actions and called on the National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, and Governor Kefas Agbu of Taraba State to intervene.

The Nigeria Customs Service administers Adamawa and Taraba states under an area command with headquarters in Yola, but recent heightened operations of the Service had been by a special unit running Operations Whirl Wind, tasked with tackling petrol smuggling from Nigeria to neighboring countries.

On the 10th of this month, the Controller General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, told newsmen in Yola that the special operations had, within the first week of launch, seized 150,950 litres of petrol around the country.