Troops of the Nigerian Army have intercepted and arrested eight members of a syndicate smuggling fuel from Nigeria to Ambazonian rebels in Cameroon to facilitate terrorist activities.
A statement by the Nigerian Army on its official X handle said they were arrested during a sting operation yesterday along Abong-Kurmi Baissa Road in Taraba State at the border between Nigeria and Cameroon.
The suspects identified as Jafaru Adamu (32 years), Auwal Haruna (34 years), Umar Dahiru, Mubarak Abdullahi (20 years), Saidu Musa (26 years), Bashiru Ibrahim (18 years), Danlami Yahuaza (19 years), and Abubakar Abdullahi (19 years), were caught en route the border with a large quantity of fuel.
Following preliminary investigation, they confessed to smuggling and selling fuel to the Ambazonian rebels who are prohibited from entering Nigeria to purchase the product directly.
“The suspects revealed that they had previously bought fuel from Gassol and Bali local government areas (LGA) at the rate of ₦950 per litre.
“However, they discovered that in Takum LGA the fuel was sold at ₦800 per litre, prompting them to source for the product in Takum.
At the time of their arrest, the suspects were travelling in three J5 vehicles, carrying 605 jerry cans, each with a capacity of 40 litres, totalling 24,200 litres of fuel. The fuel, valued at ₦800 per litre, amounts to a total worth of Nineteen Million Three Hundred and Sixty Thousand Naira (₦19,360,000) only”.
Further investigation led to the identification of other members of the smuggling syndicate, including Alhaji Abdulmumini, Jafaru Adamu, Babilu Zubairu, Sule Abong, and Mark Akawu, who is reportedly the chairman of the syndicate based in Abong, a border community between Kurmi LGA of Taraba State and Cameroon.
