Customs hands five diesel tankers to NMDPRA after Borno interception
- Customs' Operation Whirlwind stopped five tankers carrying suspected diverted diesel in Borno on July 6.
- The trucks were kept in Maiduguri and formally handed to NMDPRA on October 23.
- Regulators will decide what administrative action follows once their checks are done.
The Nigeria Customs Service has transferred five tanker trucks loaded with diesel it suspects was diverted from its proper route to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), which will now look into the matter.
The trucks were stopped on July 6 at about 11pm after a tip-off, according to a statement issued in Lagos on Friday by Hussaini Abdullahi, a chief superintendent of customs and spokesman for Operation Whirlwind, the service's petroleum products enforcement team.
They were later parked at Tasha Joli, opposite the 33 Military Barracks in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. The vehicles carry the plate numbers BBR 634 XA, BRK 828 MF, YLA 243 XU, KTN 278 XZ and MUS 134 BX.
Abubakar Aliyu, a deputy comptroller who coordinates Operation Whirlwind, said early checks on the Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), commonly called diesel, pointed to possible irregularities and breaches of petroleum rules. That is why the case went to the regulator rather than being closed by Customs.
Why it matters for fuel users
Diesel powers generators, factories, trucks and many small businesses across Nigeria, so products that leave the approved supply chain can distort prices and shortchange consumers. Customs said the handover, carried out on October 23 on the instruction of Comptroller-General Bashir Adeniyi, is part of a wider push against fuel smuggling and diversion.
Aliyu said the service is stepping up efforts to find and break up the networks behind the illegal movement of petroleum products nationwide. He gave an assurance that enforcement will be done professionally and within the law.
He thanked the Comptroller-General, Customs management, the Office of the National Security Adviser, NMDPRA and his own personnel for their support.
What happens next
NMDPRA will carry out its own investigation. What Customs does after that, Aliyu said, will depend on what the regulator finds. No one has been charged, and the suspicion of diversion has not been proven in court.