According to a Saturday PUNCH investigation, while many Nigerians are standing watch at petrol stations to refuel their cars, drivers in the bordering countries of Niger and Benin Republic are taking advantage of fuel that has been smuggled from Nigeria. When our correspondents travelled to the two nations, they found that black marketers were selling the petrol that had been smuggled in at prices lower than those of petrol stations. According to research, drivers frequently employ black marketers as their prices are lower than those of filling stations. According to Saturday PUNCH, the increased value of cefas (CFA) in relation to naira made the illicit petroleum from Nigeria appealing to the nationals of both countries.
Since President Bola Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy on May 29, 2023, Nigeria has been experiencing its fifth major fuel crisis. Fuel prices spiked sharply as a result of the removal, resulting in panic buying, severe fuel scarcity, and an increase in living expenses. The price of petrol at the pump shot up to more than N500 a litre. Around September 2023, there was a second fuel shortage that resulted in lines in large cities like Lagos due to an increase in gas pump prices.
Nigeria faced another shortage in January 2024 as a result of problems with distribution and an increase in the price of oil globally. The nation saw its fourth fuel crisis shortly before Tinubu’s one-year anniversary, which resulted in expensive transportation and interruptions to everyday life around the nation. This August fuel shortage is the fifth in the history of the petroleum crisis.
Benin’s excess fuel supply Findings by one of our correspondents revealed that Benin Republic enjoys a steady supply of fuel from smugglers and government-approved dealers, in sharp contrast to Nigeria’s ongoing petrol shortage. Upon visiting the nation, one of our journalists found that the cost of gasoline was 700CFA per litre, or almost N1,850. On a visit to the two major cities in the West African nation, Cotonou and Calavi, Saturday PUNCH saw a properly operating petroleum delivery system.
At various filling stations in the cities, there were no long queues.
For instance, at the Benin Petro Filling Station located at Saint Michelle Roundabout in Cotonou, the scene was notably calm.
When our reporter arrived, only one car and two motorcycles were seen refuelling at the two available pumps.
Similarly, at the Oryx Filling Station in Dantokpa, absence of customer activity was striking as attendants sat idly.
During a 30-minute observation, only three cars and one motorcycle were seen driving into the station. The situation at Jehova Nissi Petroleum Filling Station in the Vedoko area was the same. Although the station was open and had fuel, there were no customers present at the time of the visit.
A similar scene was observed at the MRS Filling Station and the Ewell Filling Station in the Agontinkon area, where fuel was available; but the customer turnout was low. At the SCB and Sylfrec filling stations in Calavi, fuel was also available, but the number of vehicles being attended to was limited.
Philip Umo, an attendant at the Sylfrec Filling Station, who spoke in French, said while fuel was consistently available, the challenge was finding buyers.
Despite the stable fuel supply at the filling stations, black market sellers were prevalent on the streets of both Cotonou and Calavi.
The vendors were seen selling fuel in jerrycans at 600CFA, which is lower than the official price of 700CFA. This discrepancy made many motorists opt for the black market.
A motorcyclist, Justin Asoba, described the situation as a “surplus,” explaining that the abundance of fuel led individuals to enter the black market trade.
A Nigerian trader based in Benin, Wasiu Olawale, said, “There is enough fuel, and everyone knows that much of it comes from Nigeria, but it is cheaper here.”
One black market trader, Kabiru Usman, indicated that he received regular supplies of fuel and offered to provide insights into the business for a fee.
Yusuf Bala, another motorcyclist, revealed that a significant portion of the fuel sold on the black market is smuggled from Badagry, Lagos State, into Benin Republic.
He said, “It is a booming business. The fuel is smuggled into Benin. Since their currency is stronger than the naira, they make substantial profits.”
How we get smuggled fuel – Niger dealer
Boisterous Illela town, the headquarters of illela Local Government Area in Sokoto State, is a border town between Nigeria and Niger Republic, which is about 120 kilometers away from Sokoto town.
One of our correspondents, however, discovered that while a litre of petrol was around N1,000 in Illela, the border town, a litre of the product was sold for between N1,250 and N1,300 in Konni, Niger Republic.
It was also observed that Niger Republic did not experience any scarcity.
A commercial motorcycle rider in illela, Mallam Abubakar Bello, while narrating his experience said the cost of fuel in Sokoto and Illela is the same.
He said, “We are buying the product here at N1,000 per litre and it’s about same price in Sokoto. Here at Illela, most of us don’t patronise filling stations because there is no difference between their price and black market.”
A motorist in Konni, Niger Republic, Mahmoud Sanusi, said there was not much difference in the cost of fuel in both countries.
He said the removal of subsidy by the government of Nigeria hit them in Niger Republic than even people of Nigeria.
“Though we have our fuel here, our filling stations are largely patronised by government officials, who have the purchasing power. We all prefer to get fuel brought from Nigeria, which used to be more cheaper than our own here,” he added.
More findings by our correspondent in Konni revealed that smuggled fuel was mostly sold by the roadside by black marketers. It was sold for 1,250 per litre equivalent to their currency. But the fuel supplied by the Niger Republic government to registered oil marketers in the country sold for N1,300.
A manager of one of the filling stations in Konni, Kaseem Sani, said the registered oil marketers in the country could only access the product through the government.
He said none of the filling stations in the country could be caught selling smuggled fuel from Nigeria.
“Yes, we know it’s cheaper to sell Nigerian fuel even after the removal of subsidy; Nigerian fuel is cheaper than our own,” he added.
Sani said the Niger government had outlawed fuel smuggling from Nigeria, adding that the black marketers usually found a way to beat security.
Corroborating the story, Hassan Muhammad, a black marketer in Konni, said they got their products through smugglers in Nigeria.
“We get our supply from Nigeria but not through legal means; most of the people that supply us are Nigerians who make the fuel available to us here.
“They use the bush path and atimes, through the waterways but not through the legal land border.
“It is a smuggled product and their prices differs. Some sell for us like 1,100 naira per liter, or less sometimes.
“It all depends on your relationship and bargaining power with the smugglers.”
He further confessed that the smuggle fuel used to be concealed in jerrycans and not tankers.
“They don’t use any tanker for the supply, but one thing I can also add is that there are some vehicles with an additional bigger tanker which can contain close to 200 litres of fuel at a go.
“I am not supposed to be telling you this and that is why I would not allow you to take my picture, to prevent a possible attack by my people.
“We have a lot of ways and the only reason we can attract customers is to sell a bit less than the government price and that is why you see those differences in the price between us and those that source their supply from the government of Niger Republic.”
Meanwhile, a source from Tawa, another major city in the Republic of Niger confirmed to our correspondent that majority of private car owners in the country patronised the black markets for fuel while only companies and government officials bought fuel from the filling stations.
“I am not supposed to be telling you this and that is why I would not allow you to take my picture, to prevent a possible attack by my people.
“We have a lot of ways and the only reason we can attract customers is to sell a bit less than the government price and that is why you see those differences in the price between us and those that source their supply from the government of Niger Republic.”
Meanwhile, a source from Tawa, another major city in the Republic of Niger confirmed to our correspondent that majority of private car owners in the country patronised the black markets for fuel while only companies and government officials bought fuel from the filling stations.
The high petrol price by the private depots has led to increased pump prices at filling stations operated by independent oil marketers, as some outlets dispense the commodity for as high as N1,000 per litre, particularly stations in the North.
This came as the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, vowed to shut down filling stations caught dispensing petrol at exorbitant rates.
Also, the queues for petrol by motorists at filling stations were still visible on Friday in parts of Lagos, Abuja, Niger, and Nasarawa, among others.
Marketers said while the petrol price at NNPC depots was less than N600/litre, the cost at private depots had increased to about N850/litre.
“Independent marketers are not getting much from the products imported by NNPC. So, we scout for products with the DAPPMAN (Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria) members that have been allocated the product,” the National Operations Controller of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mustapha Zarma, stated.
IPMAN controls more than 80 per cent of the filling stations nationwide and has its members operating the bulk of retail outlets across the country.
Zarma added, “They (depots) sell the product to us above N800; it is N850 today. So, the product is now about N850 at the depots in Lagos. The private depot owners, that’s how they sell. And they are collecting the product from NNPC at less than N600.”
On whether the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority has been informed of this, the IPMAN official said, “If you ask them, they will say bring the receipt.”
He explained that such receipts were not readily available most of the time, as payments were usually not made directly to the accounts of the private depots due to certain arrangements.
He stressed that many dealers need products to dispense to keep their businesses running, and since they can’t get it from NNPC, they have no choice but to buy from private depots despite the high cost.
“Today, the price is about N840, N850. It has been high since last week. That is why you see the product selling for N900 and N950 in Lagos. It may increase to about N1,000,” Zarma stated.
The Executive Secretary of Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, Olufemi Adewole, had yet to respond to an enquiry on the matter till this report was filed.
The spokesperson of the NMDPRA, George Ene-Ita, however, argued that the petrol price reports that the regulator gets from its officials at the depots were different.
“Our depot people see a different price because we ask them to publish the prices at the depots every day and it is not N850/litre. Our field agents at the depots give us a different figure,” he said.
When told that some filling stations operated by independent marketers in Lagos and many other states dispense their products for as high as N900 and N1,000/litre, the NMDPRA official said such outlets would be brought to book if apprehended.
“If we get these outlets, all we do is to try and shut them down, because NNPC is the company that brings in the product and they tell us how much they sell as their ex-depot prices to off-takers. And we sit down together and work out the margins and there is no way it should be that high,” Ene-Ita stated.
Queues persist
Fuel queues have persisted across the country, Saturday PUNCH observed.
In the Federal Capital Territory abuja, the situation has remained the same for over two months, driven by the lingering fuel scarcity.
In Kuje Area Council of the FCT, Baka sold fuel for N950/litre on Friday, while AA Rano sold it for N720/litre.
A motorcyclist, Nura Dauda, noted that he bought fuel at a BOVAS station in the area council for N670/litre, while the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation sold it to him at N617/litre.
“This is my routine. Once I close by 10pm or so, I drive down here and wait for them to open,” he said.He further lamented that he had not spent one night at home in the last six days since he began the routine.“It was one of my colleagues who gave me this new strategy, and it has been working for me. By 8am or so when they open, I’ll be among the first five or six to buy,” he said.Another commercial driver, who gave his name only as Mr Okere, said he had already spent two nights at that filling station before Thursday.“That is what we go through to get fuel o. We sleep here at night and by morning, as they open, we will just buy so we can work,” he said.Another driver who refused to give his name lamented that he was not going to leave because the fuel he had would not take him to his home in Ibadan, Oyo State.
“I am supposed to be driving to Ibadan, but no way. I will just sleep here,” the source said.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday night around 10.49pm, our correspondent observed drivers and petrol customers laying siege to the NNPC Filling Station in the Obalende area of the state.
One of the customers, Toluwalope Olaseinde, who came with four kegs, said, “I will sleep here. I don’t have a choice.”
A motorist, Emem Osung, said if she did not get fuel before the station closed, she would sleep at the station.
“I am ready to sleep here. It won’t be my first. This is what the government wants – to make us suffer,” she said.
On Monday, NNPC attributed the current fuel scarcity in the country to evacuation challenges from Apapa, Lagos, assuring that the issue would be resolved.
The NNPC’s spokesperson Olufemi Soneye, had said, “It’s just an evacuation challenge out of Apapa from the vessel. But we are working on it; it should be resolved.”
Soneye, who sought to reassure Nigerians at the time he spoke on Monday, stated, “I’m very sure that it (queues) will be cleared out by Wednesday.” But despite the national oil firm’s assurances, the queues for petrol have failed to disappear.