The Sokoto Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Services (NCS), on Wednesday, auctioned to the general public, 55,164 litres of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), seized from smugglers.
ASHENEWS recalls that recently, the Command the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi directed the command to auction 11,270 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and also seized operatives of Operation Whirlwind from smugglers.
Leading the auction, the Area Comptroller, Kamal Muhammed said, “Due to the intensified clamp down of smugglers of petroleum product, the service made a seizure of 55,164 litres of PMS with a duty paid value (DPV) of N38,669,964.00 within the period under review.”
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According to Muhammad, the intelligence-driven tactical team code-named Operation Whirlwind made a seizure of 28,116 litres while the Sokoto/Zamfara Area Command patrol teams made a seizure of 23,030 litres of PMS.
He said that Nigeria is among countries with the lowest PMS price, despite subsidy removal.
“PMS is sold at an average of N701.99k per litre in the country while in Cameroon it is sold at N2,061.55k, Mali is N2,128.20k and N1,672.05k in the Republic of Benin.
“PMS price margin between Nigeria and other West African countries has made smuggling of the product an easy profit-making venture for smugglers as it fetches them two or three times its domestic price.”
According to him, the seized PMS was auctioned at ₦180 per litre to the general public.
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The smuggling of the product has continued to create artificial scarcity in some parts of the country and also brought about an additional burden on the country’s scarce foreign exchange used to import the product.
The Service will continue to protect Nigeria’s economic interest with dedication, justice and integrity.
“Let me use this medium to pass across the Comptroller General of Customs message to the smugglers which is, “Nigeria Customs Service will run you out of your illegitimate business.”
He appreciated the journalists for their usual support and cooperation to the command
“The service appreciates your support in its efforts toward upholding the rule of law and protecting the interest of the nation.
“It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to today’s briefing aimed at keeping the public abreast with Nigeria Customs Service activities in Sokoto/Zamfara Command.”
