By Tina Amanda
The suspended Commandant of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC) Rivers State Command, Micheal Ogar, has refuted the accusations made by the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Unit of NUPENG Rivers State that the Command impounded it members three trucks and sold off the premium motor spirit (PMS) product in it.
Ogar, who stated this while briefing journalists on the incident, said the allegations raised by the protesting tanker drivers are false, noting that the tankers were arrested by a joint task force in August 2022 and handed over to them.
He has documents to show that due diligence and lawful procedure as prescribed by the federal government were taken.
“The bunkers, who were not happy with my work against illegal bunkering in Rivers State, instigated the allegations. When I came here, there used to be plenty of oil bunkering activities causing soot in Rivers State. Still, my efforts in collaboration with sister agencies have been able to reduce illegal oil bunkering by ninety-nine (99) per cent, and everybody can attest to the fact that soot and unlawful bunkering in Rivers State has drastically reduced, even though there is a heavy increase in Nigeria’s crude oil production.
“These documents showed documents of handover notes and the court judgement from the federal high court that these proceeds of crime should be forfeited to the federal government. As well as newspaper adverts of the auctioning of the products.
“The enemies of Nigeria who are truncating our efforts to stop illegal oil bunkering in Nigeria are the sponsors of last Wednesday’s protest. The protesters in their protest were chanting the name of their sponsors and that they needed me to be transferred to another place.
“I didn’t commit any offence; I followed due process in auctioning the products as directed by the court. The proceeds of the auctioning were paid to POCA, the federal government account.
“Also, these allegations are false to tarnish my reputation, which I have built for many years. I have made many arrests, recovered riffles, and secured 12 convictions this 2023 alone and numerous forfeitures.
He expressed confidence that he would come out victorious in the investigation, which the Commandant General NSCDC has ordered.
“The tanker drivers claimed that they obtained an order from the magistrate court to release the products, whereas the magistrate court has no power to adjudicate on issues of federal crimes like oil bunkering.
“Anyone who takes an issue of federal crimes to magistrate court has criminal intent, so it was the federal high court who gave us the mandate to auction the products”.
