Men of the Niger State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have arrested eight trucks laden with 469,000 litres of petrol and their drivers in Mokwa, Niger State, on their way to Babana, a border town between Nigeria and Republic of Benin.
According to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) the Niger State Commandant of NSCDC, Mr. Yakubu Ayuba, briefed the press in Minna on Wednesday about the development.
He said six of the trucks belong to one marketer but NNPC didn’t mention the marketers name.
Ayuba also disclosed that two of the trucks contained 66,000 litres, twice the quantity contained in a normal truck.
Also speaking at the briefing, Comptroller of Operations, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Engr. Abdillahi Isa, said only one truck out of the eight had a genuine waybill to a recognized station in Babana.
The NNPC statement signed by its spokesman Ndu Ughamadu said the owners of the other trucks would have to explain their mission and destinations, stressing that if it was established that they were involved in products diversion, they would pay a fine of N200 per litre to the government.
This arrest confirms NNPC’s position that products hoarding and diversion were responsible for the fuel supply shortages witnessed recently in some parts of the country.
The drivers of the trucks who are currently in custody at the Minna Command of the NSCDC will be soon be charged to court for prosecution.
