FG to probe release of 295 smuggled petroleum tankers

President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the release of 295 petroleum tankers smuggled into the country.

In a statement on Saturday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, he decried that the trucks were released without due authorisation.

According to Buhari, it is disheartening to learn that 295 smuggled petroleum tankers were released without due authorization on 17th December, 2019 by some security officials charged with the responsibility of protecting our borders.

He, thereafter, directed the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, to set up a board of inquiry to investigate the crime.

Following the President’s directive, the NSA recommended that all officials, including civilians as security operatives found to have connived to undermine the efforts of the government, should be withdrawn from the border drill and severely sanctioned by their respective organisations.

President Buhari, according to the statement, accepted the recommendations and directed the immediate withdrawal and replacement of all those found culpable.

He also directed that their respective organisations should immediately mete out to them, the appropriate disciplinary actions.

Meanwhile, the President has commissioned ‘Operation Swift Response’ as a border drill exercise to checkmate the illegal activities of smugglers across the nation’s borders.

Adesina explained that this was part of the Federal Government’s effort to ensure food security and improve the local production of goods at competitive prices.

He noted that the border drill has been hugely successful and has led to the interception and seizure of large quantities of food, materials, minerals, and petroleum resources trafficked across the borders.