Nigeria’s local head of petroleum marketers stated that around 2,000 gas stations in the northeastern part of the country were closed over an anti-smuggling operation that targeted particular operators, forcing drivers to purchase gasoline on the black market.
The Nigeria Customs Service impounded tanker trucks and closed some fuel outlets on suspicion that they were smuggling gasoline to neighbouring Cameroon. This led to the suspension of operations at gas stations, according to Dahiru Buba, the chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) for the states of Taraba and Adamawa.
For years, low-cost gasoline smuggled from Nigeria has been the main source of income for black-market fuel merchants in Cameroon, Benin and Togo.
That black market commerce collapsed when Nigeria eliminated its petrol subsidy last year, but since June 2023, Nigeria has capped the price of the commodity, even if its currency has sharply declined. As a result, the product is now once again cheaper.
Under “Operation Whirlwind”, Customs initially impounded some tanker trucks belonging to IPMAN members and released them after the association protested. But more trucks were seized and several fuel stations were shut, forcing fuel station operators to close outlets en-masse in protest, said Buba.
“We wrote to them (Nigeria Customs) again but there were no responses that is why we decided to go on strike,” he said, adding that over 1,800 outlets had ceased to operate.
“This is our business and we cannot be quiet when our members are treated this way.”
According to Taraba and Adamawa Customs spokeswoman Mangsi Lazarus, tanker trucks were impounded because they were being used to transport gasoline.
Black market dealers swiftly capitalized on the shortages in Adamawa’s capital city of Yola, selling gasoline for 1,400 naira ($0.9459) per liter instead of the 650–750 naira it was selling for at the pump.
