By Kelechi Esogwa-Amadi
There are indications that more illegal refining sites and depots are on the verge of being discovered in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital.
This follows the spate of explosions witnessed in various parts of the city since last weekend, most of which have been attributed to illegal refining and dumping of petroleum products in hidden sites within residential neighbourhoods.
In the past few days, areas such as D-Line, Rumuokoro and a jetty in the town axis of Port Harcourt were rocked with explosions that caused panic among residents, sparking condemnations against the activities of illegal refiners of stolen crude oil. However, a prompt launch of an investigation into the fast-rising crime for the purposes of unravelling its perpetrators and bringing it to an end have started yielding positive results.
On Wednesday, the police uncovered an illegal oil refining site at Abel Jumbo, Diobu, Port Harcourt and arrested four people in connection with the crime.
The people were said to be producing illegal freeze, engine oil and other automobile lubricants in the place, using condensed oil.
Reacting to the crime, the Rivers State Police Command, through its spokesman, Nnamdi Omoni, appealed to the public to assist the police with information that would lead to the uncovering of more illegal refining and dumpsites.
The police said it was determined to win the war against the crime.
TPCN gathered that since the explosion incidents, the awareness of Port Harcourt residents about illegal oil refining activities in residential areas have grown more. The wide condemnation the incidents attracted among residents across the length and breadth of the city is therefore seen as an indication that they will no longer condone any such illegal activity happening around their vicinities.
It was learnt that this resolve was instrumental to the recent discovery of an illegal refining site in Diobu, Port Harcourt.
Expectations are also high that the security collaboration between the police and the local vigilante – OSPAC – in different communities in Rivers State will provide added impetus to the war against illegal bunkering and refining activities constituting a serious hazard to residents and the environment.
Already, some OSPAC leaders in the state have reportedly promised to alert the police anywhere they notice such activities going on.
According to sources, operators of illegal oil refining sites use various strategies to conceal their operations to avoid being noticed.
“They usually do it in a way that people will not know what is going on. If they want to do it in a compound, they will go to the back yard, or the back of one of the houses, put an oven or tripod there and they will be cooking it and people won’t know. Even if you see smoke, you will think people are just cooking food or smoking fish,” one of the sources told TPCN on Thursday in Port Harcourt.
Another source added: “The people doing these things do not have conscience, true. Because if they have conscience, they will know that it’s very very dangerous. Now, look at what happened in Rumuokoro and D-Line.
“What if many people were living there, do you know how many people that would have died? Thank God the police have started arresting them. I heard they arrested some people in Diobu yesterday. They should just be trying because the thing is very dangerous. It’s even contributing to black soot and when we inhale these things, it can cause cancer.”
