Nigerian government has detained an officer of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) Owombo Segun John for exposing petrol smugglers to the Niger Republic, Cameroon, Chad and other African countries.
Owombo, who is a Superintendent of Customs (SC) in a video had narrated how he arrested so many smugglers on Wednesday, November 2, at Malabo Checkpoint on Belel Road, Adamawa state.
He however said senior officials of the Customs Service called him to release the suspects.
The officer attached to the Federal Operations Unit Zone D in Adamawa State had been arrested and detained.
“He has been detained by the Comptroller over the video,” a source told SaharaReporters.
Daily, at least 42 million litres of petrol are smuggled out of Nigeria at a resultant cost of about N2 billion, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
In November 2019, the NCS announced a directive that restricted petroleum products from being supplied to fuel stations within 20 kilometres of the borders.
Prior to that, the NNPC had raised the alarm about the increasing number of filling stations in border towns, saying they were funnels for fuel smuggling to neighbouring countries.
With millions of Nigerians grappling with periodic fuel shortages, the porous borders, spanning over 17,000 kilometres, make it possible for the product to be smuggled to these neighbouring countries easily.
According to a recent report by Deutsche Welle (DW), a German public state-owned international broadcaster, smugglers are having a field day selling Nigerian fuel at cheaper rates than the conventional petrol stations in Cameroon.
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