The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has appealed to security agencies to allow petrol tanker drivers move freely in the states currently on lockdown.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered the lockdown, restricting movements in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as well as Lagos and Ogun States, for a period of 14 days.
The lockdown became necessary as there were rising cases of the novel coronavirus in the states.
While announcing the lockdown during a live broadcast, the president stated that some businesses offering essential services are exempted from the lockdown.
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Disclosing the reason behind the lockdown, the president said, “These states have the majority of confirmed cases in Nigeria and our focus, therefore, remains to urgently and drastically contain these cases and to support other states and regions in the best way we can.”
In a statement posted on Twitter, NNPC explained that the exemption granted by the president to certain categories of essential workers covered the operations of petroleum products tanker drivers.
PRESS RELEASE:
Allow Tanker Drivers to Operate During #Lockdown, NNPC Tells Law Enforcement Agencies
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has appealed to law enforcement agencies across the Country to allow petroleum…
Read more ???https://t.co/CyqZg80llp pic.twitter.com/C2FeClvsQk
— NNPC Group (@NNPCgroup) March 31, 2020
The corporation maintained that the Federal Government counted on the support of the law enforcement agencies across the country, to ensure smooth distribution of petroleum products across the nook and cranny of the country during the period of the restriction.
While urging the Nigerian populace not to engage in panic buying, NNPC stated that it had over 2.6 billion litres of petrol in store, which it said would last the period of the lockdown and beyond.
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Meanwhile, since Nigeria confirmed her first case of the infectious disease in late February, 2020, there have been a total of 139 confirmed cases of the virus in the country.
While nine infected persons have been discharged after fully gaining recovery, two persons have died of the virus, which is fast-spreading among the Nigerian populace.