Troops of the Nigerian Army have intercepted two Dangote trucks and three others allegedly transporting banned goods to the Republic of Cameroon.
The trucks, loaded with 600 50kg bags of cement each, were on Friday paraded to journalists at the headquarters of the Nigerian police in Yola, the Adamawa state capital.
The interception followed an executive order banning the transportation of building materials across the country’s border through Adamawa routes by the Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri.
While jointly displaying the vehicles, the spokespersons for the governor and the police command, Humwashi Wonosikou and SP Suleiman Nguroje respectively, told journalists that the trucks were intercepted a few kilometres before Jamtari, a border village between Nigeria and Cameroon.
Wonosikou said, “We’re here to address a disturbing trend in the state. As if the hardship on the people is not enough; there are some people who would want to test the will of the government and the government is saying such actions are unacceptable.
“We’re all living witnesses when the government came up with a policy of banning the movement of building materials across the country’s border. We’re a border state and we’ve had issues where items are transported across the border.
“But then the government, for building materials, would not want them transported out of the country. You can see behind me are trucks that were apprehended and brought here. They were intercepted by the military.
“And it is believed that these products are being transported out of the country, because if you look at it, where is the community at the border area in Adamawa State that requires this amount of cement to be used?”
On his part, Nguroje said, “Personnel have been deployed throughout the state to enforce the government order, banning transportation of building materials across the border.”
However, officials of the Yola depot of Dangote Cement, who were on the ground, vehemently denied that the products were being taken to Cameroon.
One of them who spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authority argued, “This is a clear violation of our right to do business! It is absolutely wrong for our trucks to be intercepted within the Nigerian territory.
“The goods in these trucks were procured by our customer, who requested them to be conveyed to Jamtari. It is therefore not in our right to demand an explanation as to why he wants them there.”
But in a dramatic twist, one Abiola Oyetunji, identified on the waybill as the contact person, expressed surprise that the truck had left the company’s depot in Yola.
According to her, the trucks can leave the depot only after the goods have been sold.
“I’ve not sold the cement yet; how could the truck have moved out of the depot in Yola? The driver told me he was at the depot up to this time,” she added.
