Adeniyi said this as the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited announced on Monday that it had apprehended a suspected Cameroon-bound tanker carrying crude oil.
The Acting Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, has stated that the removal of fuel subsidy by the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government did not stop the smuggling of stolen crude oil from Nigeria to neighbouring countries.
Adeniyi made the disclosure on the sidelines of a sensitisation workshop on the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023 for management staff of the NCS in Abuja.
Adeniyi said this as the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited announced on Monday that it had apprehended a suspected Cameroon-bound tanker carrying crude oil.
SaharaReporters had reported that NNPCL intercepted a vessel with 800,000 litres of stolen crude oil.
The vessel – MT TURA II (IMO number: 6620462) – belonging to Holab Maritime Services Limited, was apprehended offshore with the Captain and Crew members on board.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu proclaimed the end of fuel subsidies at his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, after the Federal Government had been subsidising the commodity for decades, spending trillions of naira in the process.
The government has often complained that fuel from Nigeria was being smuggled into other West African countries because of its low price in Nigeria owing to subsidies, when compared to its cost in these countries.
However, the Customs General Directorate announced on Monday that smuggling had decreased but had not halted in some border posts, PUNCH reports.
As a result, he stated that the agency was examining its enforcement techniques, and that under the new Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, offenders would face harsh penalties.
When asked if petrol was still being smuggled out of Nigeria after the subsidy was removed, he said, “We still have some incidents in some border stations. The rate has reduced and we are going to be watching the situation very closely. The situation of fuel is very sensitive and we cannot afford to let the saboteurs take over our economy.”