While constitutional order in Niger continues to be flouted following the military coup, four Moroccan truckers and others from Mali are stranded near the Niger borders as the Burkinabe and Malian armies set up a military barrier to secure passage.
The National Office of the Organisation of Transport and Logistics (ODTL) has revealed that Moroccan drivers have been given very strict instructions. They are asked not to load their vehicles and to suspend their journeys to Niger, due to the risks associated with explosive devices present along the road between Benin and Niger.
In an official statement, the union clarified that “in coordination with the Union of Road Transport Drivers in West Africa (UCRAO), the situation of Moroccan drivers stranded near the Nigerian border is being monitored”.
He added: “These drivers had come from the Netherlands to Mali with a load containing provisions for members of the United Nations”.
According to Khalid El Hamdani, Secretary General of the ODTL, all Moroccan drivers have been made aware of the danger inherent in transport to Niger, due to the potentially explosive mines present on this route.
In a statement to Hespress, he explained that the union’s executive board, in collaboration with UCRAO, had identified the presence of four Moroccan truckers and others from Mali, engaged in international transport on behalf of the United Nations. They are stranded near the Niger border, as a military barrier has been set up by the armed forces of Burkina Faso and Mali to reinforce security at the crossing.
This situation has forced them to stop in this region while awaiting authorization for the passage of large trucks, with priority currently given to light vehicles and pedestrians, the official continued.The Organization’s General Secretary also pointed out that “everyone in the union, in coordination with the Union of Road Transport Drivers in West Africa, is working constantly to monitor all the drivers’ developments by communicating directly with them on a daily basis”.
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