Task Force Arrests Suspected Pipeline Vandals In Festac...

Notwithstanding the frequent arrests of pipeline vandals, oil thieves and seizures of petroleum products, the illicit trade has continued to boom, not only in the Niger Delta, but also in several other parts of the country. But the unwavering determination of the operatives of the Special Task Force on Anti-pipeline Vandalism, instituted by the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mohammed Abubakar, to check the menace yesterday led to the arrest of five suspected pipeline vandals in Lagos.

The suspects identified as Eugene Stanley, Kunle Ogushe, Oluwafemi Bamidele, Komuko Ayekede and James Awolowo, were arrested at 7th Avenue, FESTAC Town, one of the notorious spots for pipeline vandalism in the state.

The suspects confessed that they sell the products to buyers, especially customers at the Apapa area of the state for as much as N6,000 per barrel of 125 litres.

The police were said to have sighted the suspects after they had successfully vandalised and stolen 270 jerry cans of 120 litres of petrol from one of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines at Oke Agemo, Ijedodo area near Ijegun in Iba Local Government Council Development Area (LCDA).

As they were wont to do after each operation, the suspects were sailing across the canal behind 7th Avenue in FESTAC Town when they were surrounded and arrested and the stolen products recovered from them.

The Officer-in-Charge of the task force, Friday Ibadin, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), said the operatives laid ambush for the suspects based on intelligence report.