Alhaji Othman Yusuf, National President NARTO
The National President of Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Alhaji Othman Yusuf Lawal has disclosed that the association has put in place an internal mechanism to monitor members who tries to indulge in any form of illegality.
Alhaji Othman Yusuf says that every truck owners operating under the association name must, as a matter of compulsion warn their drivers and assistants to desist from engaging in illegal practice.
Othman who gave the warning in Lagos, during the second quarterly National Executives Council (NEC) and States Chairmen Joint Meeting said that Illegalities such as cargo diversion, smuggling of petroleum products, bunkering and others are strictly unconstitutional and as such will not be accepted by the national bodies.
He warned that the national body will not hesitate to hand over any members who are caught in such acts to the law enforcement agents for appropriate punishment.
Reiterating the need to adhere to the warning and protect the association name, he said ” We have a name to protect. We as transporters are involved in the movement of cargoes and must desist from such practice for the benefit of the association and the nation.
“What I said is very clear. There is need for us to ensure that our members are not involved in petroleum products and bunkering and diversion of petroleum products across the country, because all these three things are done by trucks and the trucks are driven by drivers who are our members.
“If we avoid these things, it is in our own interest because we have no reason to be involved in all these bad things because it is affecting us and the economy.
“We are devising internal mechanism which we will not make public,we will not fold our hands and watch, we will ensure enforcement, we will identify culpable members and hand them over to the government for appropriate punishment” Othman quipped.
The association boss however hinted that talks are ongoing to engage the government from the Southwest to end the anomalies of extortion of truck drivers by state security agencies, as such practices affect business and investments, hence, the association will intensify efforts to interface with the state governments concerning the issue.