The Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps on Tuesday paraded 15 of the suspected vandals said to have been arrested in the Badagry area of the state.
It was learnt that the 16th person was ill and had been taken to a hospital.
Our correspondent gathered that officials of the corps, around 1am on Sunday, foiled the syndicate’s attempt to smuggle petroleum product in 700 30-litre kegs (about 21 litres) out of the country.
The 15 suspects were nationals of Nigeria, Ghana and Republic of Benin.
One of them, Adeyemi Igbeleyi, who spoke with CG said he was a victim of betrayal, claiming that he was the one who tipped-off the corps.
“I am not a vandal. I am a painter. I was the one who informed them that some boys were about to smuggle fuel out of the country. They promised not to implicate me if I take them to where the vandals were,” he said.
Another suspect and citizen of Ajase in Benin Republic, Fatai Npati, said he was lured into the act for N6,000 because the weather was bad for fishing.
“I did not know the actual job I was being hired to do with my boat. I got to know on our way to Nigeria, but I had to agree as I need money. I would not have yielded to the offer if it were to be the season of fishing,” the fisherman said.
NSCDC Commandant in Lagos, Mr. Donatus Ikemefuna, said the corps acted on a tip-off. He, however, discredited Igbeleyi’s claim that he was an informant.
Ikemefuna called on other law enforcement agencies to work with the corps in battling vandalism.
“All hands must be on deck in solving this ugly trend. This arrest is unusual. Most of the suspects are foreigners who had connived with their cohorts from this country. Why should we allow aliens to sabotage our economy?
“Relevant agencies should check the influx of foreigners migrating into the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, the operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Ogun State Command, have arrested a truck suspected to be loaded with adulterated petroleum product in Abeokuta, the state capital.
The NSCDC officials, who were said to have received a tip-off during a routine patrol, tracked down the truck while on its way to off-load its content at an undisclosed location in Abeokuta.
It was learnt that the truck was arrested with the driver, one Peter Ebhodaghe, 36.
The driver claimed that the content was discharged from a 33,000 litres trailer in Lagos and was in Abeokuta to off-load it on the order of his boss.
Ebhodaghe told NSCDC men that he did not know the location as he was supposed to call the boss once he was in Abeokuta. He added that the boss would then connect him with the person that would receive the product.
The NSCDC spokesperson, Kareem Olanrewaju, who confirmed the driver’s arrest, added that based on useful information, two other suspects ─ Charles Enwelim, 54, and Ifanyin George, 28 ─ were subsequently arrested.
He said, “The suspects, when accosted, were not able to provide good explanation on the petroleum product. No document was presented to back up their claims.”
Olanrewaju added that state NSCDC Commandant, Aboluwoye Akinwande, had directed that all supply routes for adulterated and vandalised products should be monitored and any truck found to be carrying such products be apprehended.
He added, “The case is under investigation to determine the involvement of each of the arrested suspects. Items recovered from the suspects are one Mercedes truck marked, Lagos AGL816XF, loaded with12,000 desiel suspected to have been adulterated or siphoned from vandalised pipeline. Other items are phones, documents and identification cards.”
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