…Avows Relentless War against Crude Oil Theft
-Precious Ahiakwo-Ovie
The Antivandal Squad of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Rivers State Command has uncovered a local refinery at Adobi-Akwa settlement in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Representing the Rivers State Commandant Basil Igwebueze; the Head of Antivandal Squad CSC Peters Ibiso took the newsmen across a tick forest which is about 6-7 kilometers from the main town.
The team sighted where the pipeline vandals tapped into the Well Head of yet to be ascertained Multinational Company, connected their galvanized pipes to several cooking pots, heat up the crude to produce Automotive Gas Oil (AGO).
“Upon receiving a tip off, the Antivandal operatives swung into action to uncover this illegal oil bunkering site, they were in this forest for 2days having cordoned the area; unfortunately the perpetrators upon sighting our men took to their heels but investigation is still ongoing to effect the arrests of such defiant elements”.
The Antivandal Unit Head further narrated the operation techniques of the operators of local illegal refineries from the point of extraction of crude through vandalism of oil pipelines to cooking in various ovens where the content is subjected to high temperature and transmitted through pipes to reservoirs for storage and onward trans loading to buyers.
He hinted that the Command will not relent in the fight against illegal dealings in petroleum products and that the public should have more trust in the NSCDC by providing actionable intelligence that would enhance possible arrest of economic saboteurs in the State.
“Our commitment to continuously work in tandem with the prosecutorial mandate of the Corps in order to rid the State of economic saboteurs remains unchanged, we value our informants and most especially the intelligence driven tip off received from time to time. It is also our duty to ensure that our source of information are not disclosed so as to protect our informants, it is therefore our delight that the public will continue to have confidence and trust in us as we together protect the nation’s Critical National Assets and Infrastructure from dare devil vandals…. He said”.
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