Maputo — The owners of some petrol stations suspected of financing terrorism in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado have fled the country, according to a report in the Maputo daily "Noticias".
Suspicions fell on certain fuel pumps in the central province of Sofala. Speaking to reporters in Beira on Friday, the Secretary of State for Sofala, Stella Zeca, said that the suspect petrol stations have been under investigation for some time, after noting the precipitate departure from the country of some of their owners.
On a visit to Sofala last week, President Filipe Nyusi noted the strange proliferation of fuel pumps in the province and suggested that some of them could be involved in money laundering, the proceeds from which were used to finance terrorism in Cabo Delgado.
"Unfortunately, we even have situations in which staff in the public administration have been detained because they issued Mozambican identity cards and passports for people involved in these activities to enter the country", said the President.
Stella Zeca said citizens should be more attentive towards collaborating with the authorities in denouncing suspicious movements or any other sign of "infiltration".
"All Mozambicans should fight against terrorism and organized crime", she urged.
She added that suspicion did not fall on all those involved in the fuel distribution business, many of whom worked within the law.
A few days after Nyusi's intervention, one of the suspect distribution companies, Lake Oil Trans, owned by Tanzanians, closed its business in Beira, and its owners left the country. They ordered the removal of all trucks from their parking lot, and closed all their fuel pumps.
They gave no advance warning to their workers that they were pulling out. One of those workers told reporters that his employers "have been on the run since last Monday". The workers are wondering how they are going to be paid the wages the company owe them.
Lake Oil Trans is part of the Lake Group, run by a Tanzanian citizen named Ally Awahad, which has been operating petrol stations in Beira, and the transport of fuel to neighbouring countries since 2016.
