Soldiers Impound Truckloads of Urea Fertilizer in Kogi

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Many truckloads of urea fertilizer belonging to the Notore Chemical Industries in Port Harcourt are being detained at the Maigumeri Barracks in Lokoja, Kogi State, after being arrested by soldiers on the orders of the military high command.

 

 

Though our correspondent gathered that over 50 trucks were detained, the company said 156 trucks, each carrying 600 bags of fertilizer were being held for the past two weeks.

Urea is an inexpensive form of nitrogen fertilizer with an NPK (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) ratio of 46-0-0. It often offers gardeners the most nitrogen for the lowest price on the market. But ammonium nitrate and urea, the next two most widely used fertilizers, can also be used to make deadly bombs, experts say.
Our correspondent gathered from sources at the barracks in Lokoja that the trucks were seized by the army along the Abuja-Lokoja highway and  brought there about two weeks ago,  after which the truck drivers were said to have been despatched from the area to prevent a stand-off.
Daily Trust learnt that while a handful of the trucks have been screened and released, many others were still there as at yesterday.
Defence HQ reacts
Reacting, Defence Headquarters spokesman, Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar, said the blockage of the trucks was a routine security operation.
Abubakar told Daily Trust yesterday that security forces occasionally embark on such random operations to check the activities of criminally minded individuals planning havoc on society.
While noting that such operations were to ensure the security of lives and property, he appealed for the understanding and support of members of the public for security agencies to tackle insecurity.
Agric ministry, Notore react
The Special Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development on Media, Dr. Olukayode Oyeleye, said though the ministry did not have any information on the detained trailers,  the ministry, in collaboration with the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), had set out new guidelines and regulations for the transportation, blending or use of urea because of its bomb making capacity.
He said every individual, company or transporter involved in urea fertilizer business must be identified and certified from the point of origin to the destination.
He added that once that is done, they are free to move on with the business.
Oyeleye hinted that the detention might not be unconnected with the new guidelines and regulations.
The Head, Agricultural Services of Notore Chemical Industries, Ibrahim Suleman, said the trucks had been with security agencies for the past two  weeks.
According to him, the company is trying to resolve the issue because the security personnel wanted to establish the end users to ensure that the fertilizer is not used for explosives. Suleman said the detention of about 156 trucks with each carrying 600 bags of fertilizer intended for markets across the North was already creating scarcity.
This he noted, would affect crop yield as the rains return in some states.
Credit: Daily Trust

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