Seven persons, including two personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), have been arrested by a joint team of Nigerian Army and NSCDC, working with Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL), for allegedly providing cover for illegal oil bunkerers in Rivers State.
The arrest followed PINL’s discovery of a logistics company at Eleme area of the State being used as camouflage for illegal bunkerers on the 28-inch Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) along the Ebubu New Road by Eleme Trailer Park, adjourning to the East-West Road.
The arrested two NSCDC personnel were deployed to the logistics company while the five others suspects were senior staff of the firm. They are currently assisting security agencies in their investigation.
Also arrested were two trailer trucks with capacity of 45,000 litres each and specially constructed for oil theft. They were caught inside the company while loading crude oil from a valve less 200 meters away.
Conducting journalists round the scene of the illegal bunkering activity, PINL’s senior manager, Security and Government, Dr. Patrick Onogwu, said the arrest was made possible by surveillance personnel of PINL who gave credible intelligence about crude oil thieves operating along that axis.
Onogwu said: “Based on the information, closer security attention was paid to the area, which eventually led to the busting of the illegal operations going on in the company. The company’s primary business is the processing and export of precious stones, including quartz, iron and glass sand to China through the Onne Port.
“The oil thieves were capitalising on the proximity to the company of a valve on the TNP, which is less than 200 meters away from the logistics company. So they tapped the valve and connected a hose, which they passed through a hole on the company fence into the main compound to load the crude.
“They just connected a 9-inch hose from which they load their trucks usually concealed in front of the weighing bridge of the company. It is an operation that can only be detected by a careful monitoring by security agencies considering the busy activities of the company and the smart way the illegal bunkerers managed to conceal their operations.
“Five days ago, we got intels that they loaded three trucks from this compound. The trucks they loaded, they used 40-feet containers, built a tank right inside the container as a disguise. Once you see a container like that, you will think it’s carrying normal products. And they used this customs seal to seal the truck, then they transport it to Akwa-Ibom State.”
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