Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, on Thursday commended the Niger State Command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for apprehending eight trucks of Premium Motor Spirit in Mokwa, Niger State on Tuesday.
The trucks, laden with a total 469,000 litres being diversed to the Republic of Benin through Babana, a boarder town of about 700 kilometres from Minna.
Dr. Baru said the arrest had vindicated NNPC’s position that the hiccups in supply and distribution of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise called petrol, had been largely triggered and sustained by the unwholesome practices of some downstream stakeholders who hoard, divert, smuggle across borders and sell products above recommended prices of N145 per litre.
The GMD urged Nigerians to remain vigilant to report unusual activities of unscrupulous individuals to the law enforcement agencies to bring the present situation under control.
The Niger State Commandant, Yakubu Ayuba, who briefed the press in Minna on Wednesday, had stated that six of the trucks belong to a single marketer, adding that two of the trucks contained 66,000 litres, twice the quantity contained in a normal truck.
Comptroller of Operations, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Engr. Abdullahi Isa who also spoke on the arrest said only one of the eight had a genuine waybill to a recognized station in Babana.
He told newsmen that 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.
The drivers of the trucks who are currently in the custody of the Niger State Command of the NSCDC will soon be charged to court for prosecution.