By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The management of Dangote Industries Limited has authorised the police and other law enforcement agents to arrest any of its truck drivers carrying unauthorised goods.
In a statement signed by the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer of the company, Mr Anthony Chiejina, it was stated that this action is to rid the Dangote Group of unscrupulous drivers who engage in illegal haulage activities and others who constituted themselves as a menace to other road users.
The firm listed its authorised goods as Dangote Cement, Limestone, High-Grade Gypsum, Coal, Dangote Sugar, Dangote Salt, DanQ Seasoning, and Dangote Bags.
The organisation appealed to members of the public to assist in its efforts to tackle illegal haulage activities being “perpetrated by some unscrupulous persons.”
“Dangote Trucks are permitted to transport only the following materials: Dangote Cement Plc – Dangote Cement, Limestone, High-Grade Gypsum and Coal; Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc- Dangote Sugar; NASCON Allied Industries Plc – Dangote Salt & DanQ Seasoning; and Dangote Packaging Limited – Bags.
“We hereby alert the public to report any suspected Dangote truck driver involved in illegal haulage supported with credible evidence of a such act,” the statement added.
Business Post reports that recently, Dangote Patrol Team arrests some of the company’s drivers and handed them over to relevant authorities for prosecution.
In Nasarawa State, a driver was charged to a Magistrate Court in Akwanga for criminal breach of trust, where he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four months of incarceration in a correctional centre.
While the presiding Magistrate ordered that the truck and load be released to the company and owner respectively, he advised the company to file a civil case against the owner of the goods.
Also, in Ode Remo, Ogun State, the patrol team noticed a third-party truck with the Dangote logo on it parked inside a private company yard while offloading granite stone.
The team reported the case at Ode Remo police station and got both the driver and the truck arrested. The driver has also been charged in court.