“Smuggling of Petrol”: Nigeria Customs Explains Reasons for Scarcity of Dollar, Other Currencies

• Nigeria’s customs said the growing prevalence of smuggling petroleum products out of the country is one of the major issues affecting the availability of FX
• According to the service, there are a ton of smugglers out there at the moment, searching for money to send abroad for the illegal trade
• The coordinator of the Operation Whirlwind Taskforce said the situation is creating an economic hardship for the nation by not allowing us to use the product

Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has over 3 years of experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

The Nigeria Customs Service disclosed that one of the main factors influencing the availability of foreign exchange (FX) is the increasing incidence of petroleum product smuggling out of the nation.

Husseini Ejibunnu, the coordinator of the Operation Whirlwind Taskforce, which was established by the Customs to exclusively address fuel smuggling, disclosed.

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It stated,

“It causes economic and security challenges, in the essence that when you have an excess of this outside, it tells on our exchange rate. Because right now, there are so many smugglers out there looking for dollars to go out there for the illegal trade.

“Another economic difficulty they are causing is that we in the country won’t see the product to use. The security implications are grievous in the sense that when these products fall into the hands of non-state actors, terrorists, and kidnappers, they would use these things to oil their machines to come in and attack us.”

He urged members of the public to be willing to readily provide Customs with information on smugglers, the Vanguard reported.

Ejibunnu said,

“Now it behooves on all of us to come up with credible information as to those that are supplying these products to non-state actors’’.

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"Operation Whirlwind" was meant to last for three months, but Ejibunnu stated that it had been extended to a further four months.

Customs declares state of emergency at Nigerian port

Legit.ng reported that the government was taking steps to reduce the frequent importation of dangerous cargo, according to Comptroller-General of Customs Bashir Adeniyi.

The comptroller-general instituted stringent emergency protocols in response to the discovery of several unlawful shipments, including weapons and medications, at the Onne Port in Rivers state.

He voiced worry about the growing threat that came from weapons and other harmful goods being repeatedly imported into the nation via the port.

Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at Legit.ng

Source: Legit.ng