The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is seeking effective collaboration with members of the African Union of Transportation and Logistics Organization to halt incidents of cross-border smuggling of petroleum products.
The corporation said smuggling of petroleum products remained a blight in the nation’s fuel supply and distribution matrix.
NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, disclosed this while receiving a delegation of the group led by its President, Mr. Mustapha Chaeun, at the NNPC Towers in Abuja.
Dr. Baru noted that the collaboration would not only help to stop the menace but would help rid the West African corridor of other vices that are associated with the illicit fuel smuggling business.
He also charged the regional transportation union to ensure that its members comply with extant laws and regulations on speed limits, axial weight of haulage tankers and other sundry regulations necessary to ensure safety of high ways across the African terrain.
Mr. Chaeun, in his remarks, said his members would comply with extant laws and regulations in countries where they operate.
He said that the composition of the union members which encompasses groups from West, Central, East and North Africa, made it imperative for the union to work with key continental institutions like the NNPC to maximize its strategic role in the region.