Fuel Crisis in Nigeria: Petrol Stations Shut Down Amid Anti-Smuggling Crackdown

Nearly 2,000 petrol outlets in Nigeria's northeast were shut down due to an anti-smuggling operation. The crackdown led by Nigeria Customs involved impounding tanker trucks and shutting down fuel stations, forcing motorists to rely on the black market for petrol, causing prices to soar.

Nearly 2,000 petrol outlets were shut in Nigeria's northeast to protest against an anti-smuggling operation that targeted some operators, the local head of the petroleum marketers association said on Monday, forcing motorists to buy from the black market.

Dahiru Buba, the chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) for Adamawa and Taraba states, said petrol stations stopped operations after the Nigeria Customs Service impounded tanker trucks and shut some fuel outlets on suspicion they were smuggling petrol to neighbouring Cameroon. Black market fuel vendors in Cameroon, Benin and Togo have for years relied on cheap gasoline smuggled from Nigeria.

When Nigeria scrapped a petrol subsidy last year, that black market trade collapsed, but the product has become cheaper again after Nigeria capped the price since June 2023 despite its currency sharply weakening. 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."

Mangsi Lazarus, Customs spokesperson for Adamawa and Taraba said tanker trucks were seized because they were being used to smuggle petrol. In Adamawa capital Yola, black market traders quickly took advantage of the shortages to sell petrol for 1,400 naira ($0.9459) a litre, compared to between 650 and 750 naira at the pump. ($1 = 1,480.0000 naira) (Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by Sharon Singleton)

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