Naira Depreciation Sparks Surge In Fuel Smuggling To Benin, Niger

The depreciation of naira by the current administration of President Bola Tinubu to N1,560/$1 has incentivised cross-border smuggling of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to Nigeria’s neighbouring countries

LEADERSHIP investigations reveal that petrol smuggling is currently booming at border communities in the country.

It was gathered that despite the removal of fuel subsidy by the current administration, fuel smuggling is still going on unabated at border communities.

This is because due to devaluation of naira, CFA Franc now has higher value than the naira, hence, Nigeria fuel is cheaper to buy for them

To this end, fuel smugglers besiege filling stations at border routes, buy fuel between N580 to N630/litre and sell at N1,200 in the neighbouring countries

LEADERSHIP investigation showed that smugglers buy from filling stations mostly owned by major marketers along Sango-Idiroko, from where they sell to smugglers at a higher rate.

Though the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), heavily clamped down on fuel smugglers, many are still involved in the business.

For instance, between January to July, 2024, the service intercepted 1,529,996 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), equivalent to 46 tankers on the verge of being smuggled out of Nigeria through the land borders.

The seizures are made in Nigerian states sharing land borders with the Republic of Benin and Niger Republic.

According to data exclusively made available to LEADERSHIP, the Customs Service said the PMS seized in the month under review worth N205.4 billion

According to the data, 955 seizures were made in the last seven months with 30,781 in January, 85,605 Litres in February; 1,012,852 litres in March; 64,758 litres in April; 86,967 litres in May; 48,654 litres in June and 200,379 litres in July, 2024.

The data explained that the the January seizure worth N13.53 million; February seizure worth N132 million; N88.5 billion in March; N46.7 million in April; N7.41 billion in May; N89.7 million in June and N7.54 billion in July, 2024.

Speaking to LEADERSHIP, a fuel smuggler, Akeem Liadi, said the federal government’s decision not to allow petroleum products to be discharged in any filling station within a radius of 20 kilometres to the border of Nigeria, has not affected their cross border trade.

According to him, Petro smuggling is still thriving because of the market that is available for it in neighbouring countries.

“I get my petrol from filling stations at Oju-ore -Atan expressway. Those filling stations sell between N580 to N630 and we sell at Idiroko between N1,200 to N1,300 on a daily basis.”

“My car can accommodate over 300 litres because we have specially built those vehicles to accommodate such.”

Liadi, however, explained that after buying, they turn the fuel into 30 litres Jerry cans and then smuggled to Benin Republic through their smuggling routes or water

“Mostly, we go through the Ijofin river and from there, we enter Cotonou where there are buyers. The market is bubbling and it will continue because Nigerian fuel is cheaper than theirs,” he stated.

Also speaking, another fuel smugglers, who craved anonymity, said firstly when government removed subsidy and the naira was stronger, it wasn’t lucrative to smuggle fuel out of the country but now that CFA Franc has higher value than the naira, it’s more lucrative to smuggle fuel to neighbouring Benin Republic.

He said, “over there, they sell a litre of fuel at 700CFA which is about N1,850 but we sell between N1200-N1,300 to the wholesalers who now sale between 600CFA that is N1,750 to Beninoise at black market.”

When asked how he beats security checks, he said, “we drive in through the bushes to get to our destination and in some cases, we make use of the creeks.”

Speaking on how they get the products, he disclosed that they buy from filling stations especially major marketers who sell at government approved rate.

“We don’t buy fuel from independent marketers because they are expensive; rather, we buy from major marketers. They know us when we come and they give us priority because we buy in thousands. We are the one buying off their fuel because at a go, we can buy N150,000 or N200,000 worth of fuel. Who among end users can buy such if not we? He asked rhetorically.

“From Agbara to Badagry to Atan to Obere, Obasanjo among others are where we buy our products from and transport to our buyers at Benin Republic,” he stated.