Success Nwanedo
Four suspected oil thieves have been arrested by the Inspector-General of Police Special Taskforce on Petroleum and Illegal Oil Bunkering in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
A seagoing 12-compartments barge codenamed, “Rainbow-I” laden with about 350,000 thousand litres of Automotive Gas Oil was also impounded.
A statement by the Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, said following an order from the IGP to clamp down on oil thieves, the task force had intercepted the product and arrested some suspects.
Adejobi said samples of the seized oil taken for analysis showed that it is adulterated and bad for public consumption.
The statement partly read, “The Inspector-General of Police, IGP has warned that there would be severe sanctions for criminal elements who engage in activities such as illegal bunkering and illegal refining of oil products, which is capable of sabotaging the economy of the country.
“The IGP equally charged members of special teams set up to monitor, investigate, apprehend, and prosecute purveyors of these crimes to renew their offensive against crimes and criminality, and professionally shun all manner of corruption so that offenders would be made to face the full wrath of the law.
“The IGP stated this while commending the IGP Task Force on the interception of a seagoing 12-compartments barge known as “Rainbow-I” with Registration No. 8765432 laden with about three hundred and fifty thousand litres of Automotive Gas Oil reasonably suspected to be illegally refined, and the arrest of four suspects, by the Inspector-General of Police Special Task Force on Petroleum and Illegal Bunkering on 10th June, 2021 at Slaughter Area of Trans Amadi, Port Harcourt.
“Preliminary investigations as well as analysis carried out on the samples by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority based in Port Harcourt, confirm that the product is adulterated, and therefore unfit for sale to the public.”
He, further stated that all suspects would be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations.
