Oil Theft: IGP Taskforce Arrests 5 Persons, Impounds 13,000 Litres Locally Refined Diesel In Delta

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Task Force On Pipeline Vandalism has arrested five persons in connection with illicit petroleum products deals in Warri, Delta state.

The task force attached to Petroleum Products and Marketing Company (PPMC), Warri depot, had swooped on the suspects in an early morning raid at Okpurishigbene community, popularly known as Crayfish Village in Warri South West Local Government Area of the state over the weekend.

BIGPEN Online learned that the taskfroce had earlier last weekend raided the area of about 13,000 litres of locally refined diesel and four (4) speed boats before the latest arrest.

According to the Commander, IGP Task Force on Pipeline Vandalisation, PPMC depot, Warri Refinery, SP Mohammed El-Yakubu, the arrest was made following intelligence gathering and surveillance on the activities of the suspects at the vandals’ camp.

He said: “My men and I have been on the trail of this very cartel that specialises in converting stolen crude to cooked diesel for sometimes in this area and we immediately moved in to effect arrest when we were convinced it was appropriate to do so.

“We wish to express our profound appreciation to our Commander in Abuja, CSP Abiba Adamu, who had shown so much commitment to our resolve to curb pipeline vandalism in our area of coverage by supporting all our operations to some remote areas within our coverage areas.

“We also want to use this medium to appeal to the perpetrators of this illicit oil trade in this area to desist, as the command is all out to sanitize both the land and waterways within its coverage areas of this act of economic sabotage, El-Yakubu added.

He said all the arrested suspects would be charged to court after investigations had been concluded, while the impounded product would be handed over to PPMC for evacuation after it had been authorized by DPR for discounting, he stated.

Photograph in this story: The five (5) arrested suspected being paraded by the IGP Task Force On Pipeline Vandalism in Warri last Friday.