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| IPMAN |
By Monday evening, a noticeable fuel shortage had emerged in Adamawa State due to a strike by the Independent Petroleum Marketers of Nigeria (IPMAN) members.
Motorists and other petrol consumers who had reserves from previous purchases were the only ones active in the state on Monday, as new supplies were unavailable.
While commercial tricycle operators who hadn't exhausted their fuel supply allowed residents to travel with ease, other users like private generator owners and commercial GSM phone charging stations were left stranded by the end of the day.
State IPMAN members, who had previously expressed to the media over the weekend that their filled petrol tankers were being wrongfully confiscated by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), escalated their protest on Monday by not opening their stations to motorists and other petrol consumers for refueling.
In a press conference held in Yola on Saturday, June 22, IPMAN claimed that the Customs' anti-smuggling squad, Operation Whirlwind, had 'neglected its regular duties' and was seizing its members' petrol tankers, resulting in significant financial damages.
Alhaji Dahiru Buba, the state IPMAN chairman, reported that five of his petrol-laden trucks were unlawfully confiscated and called on the state and federal governments to intervene with the Nigeria Customs Service.
DAILY POST has reported that since its inception last month, Customs' Operation Whirlwind has been capturing petrol trucks suspected of being smuggled to neighboring nations.
