By Edith Ike-Eboh
The National Leadership of Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), has directed tanker drivers to keep away from the depots and stay at home with effect from Friday, March 27.
The Association disclosed this in a statement signed by its president Alhaji Yusuf Othma, in Abuja, on Wednesday.
He said that the directive was in line with government’s effort to control the spread of Coronavirus pandemic also known as Covid-19.
He said that the order would be lifted when the situation was brought under control.
“In its determination to control the spread of the disease, the Federal Government has banned all public meetings of 50 persons and above in any one place.
“In compliance with this directive, we have similarly directed all our employees (tanker drivers) to keep away from the depots and stay at home with effect from Friday, March 27, pending when the situation is brought under control.
“This action is necessitated by the fact that our loading depots across the country are places of beehive of activities containing more than 500 persons at any one time.
Our workers should be rest assured that the National Leadership of NARTO would stand by them at this critical moment as we equally implore them to be of good conduct and law abiding,” he said .
He said the Federal Government had taken a number of measures to manage the identified cases of Covid–19 and contain it.
According to him, NARTO, which is an umbrella organisation of all commercial transport owners in the country is genuinely concerned about the safety and health of all its employees who are continuously in the service of our fatherland.
He added that the organisation owed it a duty to take all necessary steps to minimise their exposure to the deadly virus.
He stated that it thus joined the Nigerian health authorities to curtail the spread of the disease in our country.
“At this daring time, NARTO would continue to monitor the trend of events as we also consider the safety and welfare of our employees who form the vulnerable and integral part of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.
“We join millions of our country men and women in prayers against the continued spread of the disease throughout the world.
“We are confident in the capacity of our health institutions to address the challenges which Covid–19 poses to our country and humanity as a whole,” he added.(NAN)
