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The Speaker, Kwara House
of Assembly, Mr Yakubu Danladi, has expressed concern over fuel scarcity in
four districts of Baruten Local Government Area of the state.
Danladi cried out during a courtesy visit to
Compt. Mohammed Garba, the newly posted Border Drill Sector Coordinator, Sector
3, Ilorin, on Monday. This is contained in a statement signed by the Kwara
State Command of the Nigeria Custom Service, Mr Zackary Chado, and made
available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin. “Danladi who was
accompanied by Chairman, House Committee on Education and Human Capital
Development, Hon. Mohammed Baba-Salihu, expressed concern over the hardship of
getting easy access to fuel.
“The hardship is being faced by four districts
of Baruten Local Government Area, namely Ilesha, Baruba, Okuta and Chikanda
axis,” it said. According to the statement, the speaker appealed to the Sector
Coordinator to reconsider the decision of fuel supply to the affected border
communities, adding that a litre of petrol now costs about N300. “The Speaker
said that the decision was making the lives of his people very uncomfortable
and the hardship was gradually becoming unbearable.” It stated that Compt.
Mohammed expressed satisfaction on the Speaker’s open-mindedness by coming
forward to chart a way forward for his people. “It means that the man is a
great leader, who is concerned about his people. “He explained that partial
border closure was not to witch-hunt or obstruct any legal businesses or
community, but to prevent illegal exportation of petroleum products “The idea
was to encourage local farmers, control the inflow of arms and ammunition,
illicit drugs and all other prohibited goods. “It is also to enable the
neighboring countries to obey the ECOWAS protocol,” he said. The Comptroller
who was posted from Seme Area Command to Sector 3, Ilorin, said that Nigeria
Customs Service was just an implementer of federal government policies. He
however advised the state government should channel their grievances through
the appropriate quarters. “The Comptroller concluded that he will soon be
visiting the border communities, and during which he will use the opportunity
to meet with those who are into the illegitimate act. “He added that he would
not rest on its oars, particularly at this period of the national challenge,”
the statement added. He noted that there were myriad of irregular migration and
trans-border crimes, such as smuggling of small arms and light weapons,
petroleum products, human trafficking, drug trafficking and terrorism, among
others. The customs official said that all the above atrocities must be tackled
in national interest and that was what informed the federal government to close
the borders.
Source: Vanguard News Nigeria
