16 December 2015, Lagos – A team of the Nigerian Navy and other security agencies have arrested 20 suspected pipeline vandals in the creeks of Ilado and Ilase in the Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos.
Vandalised pipeline
In a statement issued on Tuesday by the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, the suspects were intercepted by a patrol team between the Atlas Cove and Mosimi depot.
The PPMC said two Hilux vehicles containing thousands of jerrycans filled with petroleum products, equipment and several generators, were recovered from the suspects.
The statement said the suspects had been taken to the custody of the Nigerian Naval Base, Western Command, Apapa and were awaiting further interrogation.
The Managing Director of the PPMC, Mrs. Esther Nnamdi -Ogbue, said the agency in the last two weeks had recorded a huge success in the Atlas Cove and Mosimi areas in tackling oil theft.
“The PPMC will collaborate with the Nigerian Navy, the Army and other security agencies to ensure that the activities of vandals stop.
“We hope that those apprehended will soon be prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others,” Nnamdi-Ogbue was quoted as saying.
The PPMC recently said that the nation lost about N50bn in 10 months as a result of vandalisation of petroleum pipelines in some parts of the country.
The statement read in part, “In line with the directives of Mr. President to ensure zero tolerance for crude oil theft and pipeline vandals, the measures put in place by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, have started yielding positive results.
“Between the Atlas Cove and Mosimi depot, a team of Nigerian Navy, the army and other security agencies collaborating with the NNPC/PPMC apprehended a 20-man syndicate which included a woman.
“These are notorious members of a gang specialised in pipeline vandalism and oil theft in the Ilado/Ilase areas.”
- Punch
