Eunice Afolabi
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, has disclosed the seizure of no fewer than 123 oil tankers used in perpetrating oil theft in the country.
The feat was recorded by the IGP’s Special Task Force on Petroleum and Illegal Bunkering.
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The IGP stressed that his administration was committed to continuously developing the improved capacity of its officers through practical training, and acquiring top-notch investigative and operational assets to sustain the fight against oil theft and other crimes capable of sabotaging the country’s economy.
He made the disclosure while briefing the Senate Ad-hoc Committee to investigate oil lifting, theft and the impact on petroleum production and oil revenues on, September 21, 2021.
The IGP also recounted other achievements of the Inspector-General of Police Special Task Force on Petroleum and Illegal Bunkering (IGP-STFPIB).
Meanwhile, the head of the unit, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Lot Lantoh Garba, charged with the responsibility of tackling these specialized crimes, in the period under review, made a seizure of 1,301,020 litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), 135,000 litres of crude oil, 4,900 litres of premium motor spirit (PMS), 45,000 litres of engine oil, and 123 Tankers.
The unit currently has 52 cases under prosecution nationwide.
In one of the cases, operatives of the IGP-STFPIB successfully discovered and disrupted the operations of an illegal refinery on September 21, 2022, in Jijoro Community Riverside, Delta State, and a creek of about a one-hour boat ride.
According to the police spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, “Similarly, on September 9, 2022, following intelligence received from the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Command and Control Centre Portal, operatives of the IGP-STFPIB proceeded to the Rumuekini Area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where they discovered a warehouse within a residential building, storing about 15,000 litres of petroleum products suspected to be illegally refined AGO stuffed in sacks.
“The products were recovered as well as 1 white Mack Tanker, 1 plastic storage tank, 1 barrel drum, and 1 pumping machine. One Franklin Osuagwu, aged 29 was arrested at the scene in connection with the offence.’
“Samples of the products have been collected for laboratory analysis, while the suspects will be charged to court on conclusion of investigations for effective prosecution in line with extant laws.
“The Inspector-General of Police restates emphatically that the Nigeria Police will not relent in enforcing all laws as it is statutorily empowered to do by the effect of Section 4 (d) of the Police Act, 2020, and so charge all suspects arrested for oil theft and other related offences accordingly, without any prejudice.
“Also, the IGP has called for increased support particularly in expanding the scope of our courts and confer jurisdictional competence to hear petroleum and illegal bunkering matters, as well as provision of storage capacity for exhibits recovered during special operation pending the determination of a suit by the courts.”
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