The Nigerian Army deployed along the Nigeria-Cameroon border in Taraba State have achieved a significant breakthrough in their efforts to counter-terrorism operations.
They intercepted and apprehended eight members of a syndicate engaged in smuggling fuel from Nigeria to the Ambazonian rebels in Cameroon, facilitating terrorist activities on Friday, 24 May, 2024.
The operation, conducted along the Abong-Kurmi Baissa Road in Taraba State, involved the arrest of 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).
These individuals were caught en route to the border with a significant quantity of fuel. Upon preliminary investigation, they confessed to smuggling and selling fuel to the Cameroonian Ambazonian rebels, who are prohibited from directly purchasing the product in Nigeria.
The suspects disclosed that they had previously procured fuel from Gassol and Bali Local Government Areas (LGA) at N950 per liter.
However, they discovered that in Takum LGA, the fuel was available at N800 per liter, prompting them to seek the product there.
At the time of their apprehension, the suspects were traveling in three J5 vehicles, transporting 605 jerry cans, each capable of holding 40 liters, totaling 24,200 liters of fuel.
Based on the N800 per liter rate, the seized fuel is valued at Nineteen Million Three Hundred and Sixty Thousand Naira (N19,360,000).
Further investigation led to the identification of additional members of the smuggling syndicate, including Alhaji Abdulmumini, Jafaru Adamu, Babilu Zubairu, Sule Abong, and Mark Akawu, reportedly the syndicate’s chairman based in Abong, a border community between Kurmi LGA of Taraba State and Cameroon.
