Truck owners who are responsible for transporting food and fuel in the country have expressed concerns over the frequent attacks on their vehicles by hoodlums. These attacks could further worsen the already challenging social and economic situation in the country. Yusuf Othman, the National President of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, mentioned that the truck drivers might stop transporting these commodities if the attacks and looting of their vehicles continue.
He has called on the state governments to take necessary measures to address the looting of trucks, as the looted food items are not insured by their owners.
In a recent interview with The PUNCH, Othman stated that these attacks have severely impacted their operations negatively.
He stated, “We are affected negatively by these attacks and right now we are strategizing. It might interest you to know that the insurance we get does not cover riots or such fracas.
“So, we are appealing to the general public to avoid such attacks on our trucks. This is because if such kind of attacks continue, what will happen is that transporters will stop carrying food items and this will lead to food scarcity across the country.
“If you are transporting food and somebody stops you on the road and loot the food items, what will you do?”
The NARTO president expressed worries about the inadequate security on the roads, stating that the truck owners would stop operations if the attacks on truck drivers did not abate.
“We just have to stop transporting the food items, until something is done about it. Security has to be enforced. The various state governments need to act now to reduce the suffering of their citizens because this is not entirely a Federal Government issue.
“The state governments must be able to curb these concerns because it is usually the local people in states that attack our trucks and cart away food items in these trucks,” Othman stated.
On whether NARTO had commenced any form of discussion with state governments on the issue, Othman replied in the negative, stressing that some of these attackers also targeted fuel tanker drivers.
He, however, stated that the association had met with security agencies over the issue and again pleaded with the public to desist from attacking trucks transporting food and other products.
The transporter said, “As for state governments, we have not met with them because we don’t have direct access to interface with them, but are discussing with some security agencies how best to avoid this kind of incident. It is not good for everyone.
“It can threaten the distribution of food because if you load (goods) and somebody is going to stop you on the road to loot the goods, why will you continue to load? And mind you, it is not only trucks that are transporting food that they attacked.’’
Speaking further on the attacks on tanker drivers, Othman explained, “For the fuel that we load, sometimes when these trucks break down, you will see locals coming to open the tanks by force to scoop the fuel.
“If a fire breaks out during such an instance, people will attribute it to fallen trucks, not knowing that it was the locals who forced the tanks open to scoop fuel.’’
