Daud Olatunji
The youths of Ipokia Local Government Area in Ogun State have issued a stern ultimatum to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), demanding immediate action to address the acute fuel shortage and alleged smuggling activities that have crippled the local economy.
The ultimatum, delivered through an open letter by Comrade Imoleayo Mawutin Deji, Chairman of the Ipokia Local Government Youth Forum (IPYF), accuses the Customs officers of turning a blind eye to the alleged illegal diversion of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) meant for local consumption to neighboring Benin Republic.
The letter, addressed to the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, decries the worsening fuel crisis in Ipokia, exacerbated by the Federal Government’s 20-kilometer restriction on PMS supply to border communities—a policy originally implemented in 2019 to curb smuggling activities.
The youths lament that despite the approval of four fuel stations in the local government to supply a total of 180,000 liters of PMS per week, the product rarely reaches the intended consumers.
He said,instead, the fuel is allegedly siphoned off by economic saboteurs who smuggle it across the border, leaving residents in a dire situation.
“The PMS restriction was meant to enhance border security and reduce smuggling, but it has only compounded our problems,” Comrade Deji stated in the letter.
He highlighted that the four approved fuel stations—Olafems Oil, Mobil Fueling Station, Oppresso Oil and Gas, and Somolab Fueling Station—are all strategically located near Customs facilities, yet they continue to engage in illicit activities.
“This is happening right under the nose of the Nigeria Customs Service,” Deji asserted, accusing Customs officers of complicity in the smuggling operations.
The letter details the severe impact of the fuel scarcity on the local population, who have been forced to travel over 30 kilometers to Owode township in another local government to purchase PMS.
However, even this has become a perilous endeavour, as residents complaining of facing harassment and extortion from Customs officers who frequently confiscate fuel meant for domestic use.
He also alleged that the exorbitant prices charged by black marketers—ranging from N1,500 to N2,000 per liter—have further exacerbated the hardship, forcing hospitals, small businesses, and farmers to either shut down or operate at a loss.
The situation, according to the letter, is a “grotesque” manifestation of the failure of political leaders at all levels to address the plight of the people.
He accused a Mobil Fueling Station, reportedly owned by an associate of Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, of being at the center of the smuggling ring.
“It is ironic that a fueling station connected to someone so close to the government is contributing to the suffering of the very people the government is supposed to serve,” Deji lamented.
In light of these grievances, the Ipokia youths have presented a three-point demand to the Nigeria Customs Service:
- Establishment of a Monitoring Team: The NCS is urged to set up a dedicated team to ensure that the approved fuel stations comply with regulations and that PMS does not cross the border into Benin Republic.
- Expansion of Fuel Supply: The youths are calling for the opening of additional fuel stations to meet the daily PMS needs of the local population.
- Closure of Non-Compliant Stations: Should the above demands not be met, the youths demand the immediate shutdown of all approved fuel stations, as they are currently not serving the community but enriching smugglers.
The letter ends with a clear warning, saying that if their demands are not met within 14 days of publication, the youths will mobilize to “lay siege to all Nigeria Customs Service offices and facilities across the state.”
PLATFORM TIMES however could not get the owner of the Mobil station accused of being part of the smuggling activities in the area as at the time of filing this report.
PLATFORM TIMES also could not confirm if the open letter has been received by the Comptroller-General of NCS as of the time of filing this report on Sunday.
The Open Letter
Comptroller-General of Customs,
CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi (MFR)
Nigeria Customs Service Headquarters,
Zone 3, Abijan Street,
Wuse,
FCT, Abuja.
Dear sir,
SOS: THE UGLY SITUATION IN IPOKIA LOCAL GOVERNMENT OVER 20KM PMS RESTRICTION AND UNFAVORABLE IMPASSE OF ECONOMIC FALLOUT
It is with deepest sadness and unspeakable sorrow that I write this open letter to you to exact your attention to the unfriendly and people-disoriented happenings ongoing in our Local Government and communities as a result of the present shortfalls of fuel supply due to the 20KM PMS restrictions to border communities ordered by the Federal Government and string economic woes on our community.
Reminiscently, the PMS restriction was dated back to 2019 during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s term to curtail smuggling and enhance border security amidst insecurity and other vices ravaging our country. This development brought a lot of quagmire on us as a people but after several engagements, parleys and appeals on this issue by the youths and other stakeholders; four fueling stations were approved to sell PMS to a Local Government of over Three Hundred and Fifty thousand (350,000) populace with each fueling station given the capacity to supply only 45,000 litres per week. In all sincerity, this supply should have been able to cater for the energy crisis of our people to some extent but it’s unfortunate that not a single liter of this PMS product is sold to the final consumers that make use of it.
Rhetorically, the four fueling stations approved are – “Olafems Oil Which is directly opposite Nigeria Customs Barrack, Idiroko; Mobil Fueling Station- Iyana-Ago, Idiroko which is also strategically adjacent to Nigeria Customs Barrack; Oppresso Oil and Gas- which is located along Idiroko-Owode Road, Ajegunle and Somolab Fueling Station- located at Ipokia Town”. These fueling stations are supposed to serve us but, sadly, they are still selling these products to economic saboteurs who still smuggle the PMS meant for us to Benin Republic and other neighbouring countries at the expense of our people. All these economic impediments are ongoing right under the nose of men of the Nigeria Customs Service and they have remained unbothered about all these illicit economic activities for years. Every week, we have a total supply of One Hundred and Eighty Thousand (180,000) Liters of PMS in our Local Government but it’s all going down the drain to Benin Republic, PMS racketeers and black marketers.
Sadly, the Ipokia Local Government has been neglected governmental interventions and social amenities wise which makes our people rely solely on PMS as an alternative source of energy supply due to the lack of electricity supply for donkey years. Our people now have to go as far as over 30KM to Owode township, in another Local Government to buy PMS which your men will still have to harass and treat them badly while they confiscate the products meant for domestic consumption. These inhumane acts had forced most of our hospitals, Small and Medium Enterprises and farmers out of operations and the few left with no other option have to result to buying of PMS from black marketers and hoarders at an unreasonable price ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 Naira per litre. The economy is hitting hard at the moment in the country but what we are experiencing right now in Ipokia Local Government is a grotesque situation birthed by Oil and Gas oligarchs in our community.
Expositionally, our political office holders right from the Governor, Senator, House of Representatives member and State House of Assembly member have tried and failed on this path and I think the fight for freedom needs to be taken to another level. Ironically, Mobil Fueling Station at Iyana-Ago, Idiroko owned by Governor Dapo Abiodun’s crony- Otunba Akeem Adigun Socopao is one of the fueling stations compromising the process and selling off the products meant for us to smugglers, to get fat on the dividends; at the advantage of our country and our people.
Hitherto, all of these smuggling activities are ongoing under the awareness of men of the Nigeria Customs Service who have chosen to be an onlooker in discharging their statutory duties. This simply implies that they are accomplice in sabotaging the whole process thereby subjecting our people to untold hardship even in the face of the current economic crisis in the country. Men of the Nigeria Customs Service in Ipokia Local Government will not deny being in the know about the movement of our PMS into neighbouring countries every day. This is an eyesore and a national embarrassment to this formation as they are not working in line with the international best practices.
Majorly, I speak for the youths and we are requesting the following under your leadership:
- A monitoring team should be set up by the Nigeria Customs Service to exact compliance on the approved fueling stations by making sure PMS doesn’t cross our border to Benin Republic and racketeers while dwellers and inhabitants of Ipokia Local Government get access to PMS for their daily activities.
- Open more fueling stations to cater for our day-to-day PMS needs.
- If the above mentioned can’t be met, then we implore that the status quo should remain i.e. all approved fueling stations should be shut down immediately as they are not serving the people they are meant to aid but only feeding themselves.
Conclusively, as a youth leader in my constituency; I speak on behalf of the youths and we are giving a fortnight ultimatum from the day of this publication; to meet our requests or all our teeming youths’ machineries will lay a siege to all Nigeria Customs Service offices and facilities across the state until our demands are met. To avert this ugly incident, it is in the best interest of the service to come to a reasonable conclusion in the next 14 days or have us to contend with as our people are already pushed to the wall as regards the unbearable acts of the partners in this regard.
Thank you!
Signed:
Comr. Imoleayo Mawutin Deji
Chairman, Ipokia Local Government Youth Forum (IPYF)
Cc:
Commissioner of Police
Eleweran, Ogun State.
Department of State Security,
Ipokia,
Ipokia Local Government.
Department of State Security,
Idiroko Border Post,
Ipokia Local Government.
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