Ben Dunno, Warri
Men of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Special Task Force on Pipeline Vandalism attached to Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Warri refinery depot have arrested six suspected members of a syndicate, who specialised in crude oil theft along Delta coastal areas.
Suspects arrested including a woman identified as Jonathan Ofawinor, Akpos Oba, Hausa Kamienyefa, Arukpei Yerin, Samson Matthew and Ebi Emiyekpemi (F), are currently being detained at the IGP Task Force base in Warri.
Also impounded were three speedboats, two large wooden boats with pumping machines, generators, and long hoses with valves, including drums containing about 10,000 litres of locally refined product suspected to be AGO, also known as diesel. The arrest was made along the coastal areas of Safi 1 and Safi 2, (a notorious illegal bunkering camps) close to Ogbe-Ijoh in Warri South West council, was in line with IGP Mohammed Adamu’s zero tolerance on pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft.
The unit Commander, SP Mohammed EL-Yakubu, said the arrest was made possible based on tip off.
He said the operation would not have been possible if not for the trust and cooperation extended to the unit by the Commander General, ACP Usman Kafani Jibrin.