By Moses Patience Chat
Members of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have shut down activities at the Rivers State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
This happened on Wednesday during a protest over the impounding of three trucks with 130,000 litres of petrol by the Corps.
The tanker drivers blocked the entrance to the headquarters of NSCDC in Rivers State, along Olu-Obasanjo Road in Port Harcourt with over 30 petrol tankers hindering the movement of humans and vehicles in the city.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of PTD branch of NUPENG, Comrade Johnbosco Alex, revealed that the trucks and their drivers were arrested in August 2022, despite proof that the products they were carrying were not adulterated, but genuine products that were loaded from tank farms.
Johnbosco further explained that despite the court order to NSCDC on January 29, 2023, to release the trucks and the products, the Corps rather sold the products and refused to release the trucks and that “since then, we have been begging the NSCDC Commander in Rivers State to release the trucks and the products.
“So we are here to collect the products and the tankers. They have released the drivers after locking them up for weeks but the fuel, over 130,000 litres in each truck is gone.
The protesting PTD members further threatened that they will shut down the economy of the state if NSCDC fails to release the three trucks with their products.
While responding to the issue, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of NSCDC in Rivers State, Olufemi Ayodele, confirmed that the products have been sold adding that the actions of the tanker drivers was an embarrassment to them. He assured that they would work seriously to ensure that the matter is resolved.