According to a local head of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN), more than 1,800 filling stations were shut in Nigeria’s northeast yesterday to protest an anti-smuggling operation targeting some operators in the region. A situation that forces motorists to buy Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly known as petrol from the black market.
IPMAN chairman for Adamawa and Taraba states, Dahiru Buba, told the international news agency, Reuters that petrol stations stopped operations after the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) impounded tanker trucks and shut some fuel outlets on suspicion of smuggling petrol to neighbouring Cameroon.
Black market fuel vendors in Cameroon, Benin and Togo have for years relied on cheap gasoline smuggled from Nigeria, the report said.
Under “Operation Whirlwind”, NCS initially impounded some tanker trucks belonging to IPMAN members and released them after the association protested. But more trucks were seized, and several fuel stations were shut, forcing fuel station operators to close outlets en-masse in protest, said Buba. “We wrote to them (Nigeria Customs) again but there were no responses that is why we decided to go on strike,” he said, adding that over 1,800 outlets had ceased to operate. “This is our business, and we cannot be quiet when our members are treated this way,” Buba added.
However, NCS spokesperson for Adamawa and Taraba, Mangsi Lazarus has said the tanker trucks were seized because they were being used to smuggle petrol. In Adamawa’s capital Yola, black market traders quickly took advantage of the shortages to sell petrol for N1,400 ($0.9459) a litre, compared to between N650 and N750 pump price.
