Cameroon Ministry of Water Resources and Energy said on Monday that a special task force has intercepted over 1,000 petrol drums in the coastal town of Limbe in the Southwest Region of the country.

“Since the first of December, the Navy has put aside specific means dedicated to this fight within the framework of the task force. And we have been able to intercept about 280 thousand liters of fuel amounting to more than 3 billion CFA francs (about 5.2 million U.S. dollars) and this is happening just around Limbe zone,” Colonel Emmanuel Sone, commander of the Limbe Naval Base, told Xinhua.

Illegal importation of petrol from Nigeria, locally called “Zoa Zoa,” is rampant in the Southwest Region of Cameroon in spite of the fact that the country is one of Africa’s biggest oil-producers, Sone said. Zoa Zoa is cheaper than legal petrol.

According to the ministry, the task force comprising Cameroon Navy was created in October to combat the illegal importation of petroleum products in Cameroonian waters.

The task force will extend and intensify its activities to other parts of the country in the days ahead, officials of the ministry said.

Source: NewsGhana