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Insecurity: Trucks halt on southeast route – Businessman laments

Published

5 years ago

June 8, 2021

By Kingsley Chukwuka

The recent unrest in the Southeastern part of Nigeria has forced trucks plying the route to suspend travelling to the area, a Jos billionaire businessman Amb. Nelson Mkparu has said.

The truck drivers who are mostly northerners are afraid of losing their lives due to the current agitation of separatists in the eastern region, our correspondent gathered.

Speaking to Mr. Mkparu in Jos at the weekend, he disclosed that for the past few days he has been unable to transports his finished products to the east following the decline of truck drivers to the route.

The pipe manufacturer giant said the development will have adverse effects on business if the recent trend is not addressed.

Mkparu who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NELMACO Pipe Manufacturing Company, decried the situation, urging government to crush insecurity as it will retard development.

“I am not against those agitating but I appeal to them to do so within the ambit of the law. We should be law abiding and stop the destruction of lives and property”, he said.

However insisting that government must continually provide the enabling environment for business to thrive, NELMACO said they are not just problem solvers, but also job creators and driver’s of economic growth.

The giant company said if the current situation is allowed to persist, company will loss money which will in turn result to workers retrenchment.

“I dont want this to continue because we want to employ more workers than retrench them. We are working on engaging more youths residing in Plateau State through creating job opportunities that will add meaning to their lives”, he said.

NELMACO who is the first to produce pipes in Nigeria has employed over 200 people directly and 500 indirectly, our correspondent reports.

With new equipments purchased, the company is aimed at delivering customers orders within 48 hours, the NELMACO boss said.

“We have invested so much in equipment as you can see and more are currently undergoing clearance at the sea port. All this efforts is to boost production and meet customers demand”.

To ensure that Nigerians get affordable home produced pipes, the pipe maker Chief said the company is currently erecting a branch of the company in the southeast to meet the demand of southern Nigeria.

Our correspondent reports that when the branch is completed, it will be one of the biggest in the sub-Saharan Africa.