Relief for Ogun West as the Presidency Okays Two Petrol Stations to Open Close to Idiroko

The Federal Government has approved the location of only two filling stations in communities in Ogun West, 20 kilometers from Nigeria’s border with the Benin Republic.

The Deputy Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Ahmadu Shuaib, announced this on Wednesday at a news conference held at the Idiroko state headquarters of the agency.

Scores of filling stations in the axis had been shut down since August 2019 by the federal government when it shut the country’s border with Benin Republic to stop the smuggling of petrol out of Nigeria and contraband into the country.

Rockcity FM correspondent Yemi Eniola, who was in the axis on Wednesday, said filling stations close to the border, shut down, are now in a state of disrepair, with some of them overgrown with weeds.

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The deputy comptroller general was silent on when the approved two filling stations would be operational but said further details would be announced by the federal government.

He puts the duty-paid value of smuggled goods seized by the command in October 2023 at N398.4 million, while N30.4 million was realized as revenue from bagging assessment and auctioning of seized petroleum products.

Also in October, he said 122 smuggled items were seized, including 901 parcels of marijuana, 500 Tokunbo vehicles, and 23 vehicles used in conveying contraband into the country.

The deputy comptroller general also said over 4,684 bags of 50 kilograms of parboiled rice were intercepted during the period under review.