EJIBUNU STILL IN SMUGGLERS’ TRENCHES; ANNOUNCES A N70.3 MILLION FUEL SEIZURE IN IBADAN & LAGOS
By Timothy Paul Okorocha
Even after his appointment by the Customs Board as an Assistant Comptroller General (ACG), and yet to be decorated, Comptroller Hussein Kehinde Ejibunu was still upbeat as National Co-ordinator of the Operation Whirlwind , holding a twin Press briefing in Ibadan and Lagos where he announced a N70.3 million fuel seizure yesterday.
Ejibunu, not relenting stated that no less 30,750 litres of the product were intercepted by the Oyo axis while 15,325 were recorded from the Lagos/Ogun zone in just few days.
He disclosed that on the instructions of the Comptroller General, the product was auctioned to the public at controlled price to ease transportation of Nigerians to their respective states for the Christmas festivities.
The operatives under the team commander AC MI BELLO made a seizure of another six hundred and thirteen (613) Jerrycans of Petroleum Motor Sprit (PMS) across Lagos/Ogun axis, which translated to fifteen thousand three hundred and twenty-five (15,325) litres of PMS with duty paid value (DPV) of Twenty-seven million five hundred and sixty-five thousand naira only N27,565,000–. A court condemnation order and all legal processes have been finalised by the office of the Legal Adviser.
This operation has been on since 27th May 2024 and has yielded positive
results, as the CGC has urged the operatives to continue sustaining the tempo until the activities of this economic saboteurs (PMS smugglers) are stamped out of this country.
On this note, the CGC has directed for auctions of the seized produet to
members of the general public at the auction price of ten thousand =l0 000-
25 Liters, as this will ease the transportation hardship during this festive period.
Today, we are in Ibadan the oyo State Capital Southwest for another press briefing on the seizures made by operatives of Operation Whirlwind Oyo/Osun axis. Thirty thousand litres of PMS were seized on the account of the product intended to be smuggled out of the country, and another thirty (30) kegs of PMS were also seized.
The two seizures were amount to thirty thousand Seven hundred and fifty litres (30,750) respectively.With duty paid value (DPV) of Forty two million seven hundred and fifty thousand naira only (#42,750.00)
The seizures were kept on detention for a period of time, and they were no claimant to it. Therefore, legal action was taken on it, and a court condemnation order was obtained by the Nigeria Customs Service through the offices of the Assistant Legal Adviser.
The CGC, in his magnanimous, has directed that the product should be auctioned to the members of the general public so that people can use it and travel for this festive period. On that note, we appeal to the general populace to always assist us with useful information on the activities of this economic saboteurs.