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Tag: Pipeline vandals

  • Task force arrests 10 suspected pipeline vandals

    Task force arrests 10 suspected pipeline vandals

    The Special Taskforce on Pipeline Vandalism, Lagos Zone, on Sunday night arrested 10 suspected oil pipeline vandals and recovered 800 jerry cans at Elepete, Arepo in Ogun.

    An Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the taskforce, Mr. Friday Ibadin, paraded the suspects and displayed the items before journalists, at Arepo on Monday.

    He said the suspects were arrested at about 9pm and the 50-litre jerry cans were empty.

    Ibadin said that policemen led by the Zonal Commander, DSP Osayande Onaghise, had been trailing the suspects.

    “We got reports that the gang had been operating on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation pipelines in the area.

    “The zonal commander laid ambush against them.

    “Items recovered from them include 800 (50-litre) empty jerry cans with which they attempted to siphon the product, three bags of detergent, three big boats and items used in breaking pipelines.

    “Some of the suspects claimed they were invited to carry the jerry cans with products to designated places, while some claimed that their duties were to load the products into the boats.

    “They claimed they were promised various amounts of money. They will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the task force chief as saying during the briefing.

     

     

  • Navy arrests five suspected pipeline vandals with 126 jerrycans of PMS

    Navy arrests five suspected pipeline vandals with 126 jerrycans of PMS

    Men of the Nigerian Navy attached to the NN Ship BEECROFT, Apapa, Lagos yesterday arrested five suspected pipeline vandals who were allegedly siphoning petroleum products from a vandalised pipeline at Majidun, Ikorodu.

    After an engagement in a shootout at about midday on Friday, the Navy was able to recover a total of 126 kegs of illegally refined premium motor spirit (PMS), as well as four stick boats used by the perpetrators.

    The arrest of the suspects at Ikorodu, The Nation learnt, was barely few weeks after some vandals were intercepted at the Festac area, although they fled and abandoned their boats and products they collected with polythene bags.

    While parading the suspects, including a nursing mother, Commander NNS Beecroft, Commodore Chris Ezekobe, said the suspects were among several others who had allegedly converted Majidun area into a safe haven for their criminal activities.

    Ezekobe explained that the arrest was sequel to an intelligence report that vandals were operating in the area, following which a team of naval operatives mounted surveillance.

    He said: “Yesterday morning, at about 11:45 pm, our men stormed the water front at Majidun area of Ikorodu. At the sight of military men, the vandals opened fire and the situation got volatile, though no casualty was recorded.

    “In the exchange of gun fire, some of the vandals abandoned their syphoned products and fled.

    “We observed that the villagers were aiding and abeiting the illicit business, hence we have planned to carry out a joint raid in the area with a view to arresting those involved.”

    He further explained that the ongoing raid on vandals was in line with the Chief of Naval Staff’s zero tolerance for illegal bunkering and pipeline vandalism.

    However, the suspects denied the allegation, saying they were only at the scene for their daily bread.

    The nursing mother, who gave her name as Elizabeth Akinbotu, claimed she was around the area to fetch firewood when the operatives stormed it. She alleged that she was arrested in her bid to escape in one of the boats.

    “I did not know. I was fetching firewood in the bush and people were fighting on the road. As they were fighting, I jumped into the boat and the naval personnel arrested me.

    “I do not sell firewood, but one old woman in my area at Ikorodu, who sells firewood, asked me to help her fetch them around Majidun.

    “It was around 6 pm and the boat wanted to fall into the river. I was with one of my senior sisters, but she was able to escape. I have a four-month-old baby and I sell soft drinks and snacks,” she said.

    Also arrested were two brothers Segun Ogunsemore (22) and Muni Ogunsemore (20) who claimed they were only going to check their fish nets when they were apprehended.

    Their claims, according to Ezekobe, would be determined at the end of preliminary investigation, just as he warned vandals to stay clear of the command’s jurisdiction or have same fate befall them.

  • Four ‘pipeline vandals’ held

    FOUR suspected pipeline vandals have been arrested by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Special Task Force on Anti-Pipeline Vandalism, Force Headquarters Annex, Lagos.

    The suspects – Ismailia Adetoro, 40; Raufu Odoniyi, 39; Oyedeji Salim, 22, and Tobi Olalekan, 25, were arrested at Sagamu, Ogun State.

    It was learnt that a truck marked XP453SMK, containing 33,000 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), was also impounded.

    Assistant Commissioner (ACP) Friday Ibadin, who is in charge of the Task Force, said that on June 27, that there were reports that the suspects were siphoning petroleum products from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines.

    Policemen, led by Sector Commander Onaghise Osayande, he said, hit the scene and arrested the suspects, while they were about to leave the spot after loading their truck.

    “Ismailia, popularly known as “commissioner,” had been on our “wanted list.” Investigations revealed that while he was assisting the police to track down vandals, he was also actively involved in pipeline vandalism,” Ibadin said.

    Ismailia said he went back into the crime when police failed to review his compensation as their informant, adding: “The truth is that I am a family man with so many responsibilities. My vulcanizing business was no longer booming; this was why I decided to reconsider going back to the same business.”

    Olalekan, who pleaded for mercy, said he was lured into the business because of the easy money accruing from it.

  • Court rejects suspected pipeline vandals’ bail application

    Justice Mohammed Idris of a Federal High Court, Lagos, on Tuesday struck out an application for bail filed by four accused persons charged with pipeline vandalism.

    The accused are: Rueben Oluwole (60); John Isaiah (28); Timi Gunugunu (22) and Olisa Saheed (25).

    They are standing trial on a seven-count charge bordering on pipeline vandalism and murder.

    Justice Idris struck out the affidavit in support of the bail application filed by Mr. George Iheanacho, the counsel to Oluwole, Isaiah and Saheed, as well as that filed by Mr. Charles Ovuru, the counsel to Timi Ogunugunu.

    Both counsel had on February 4, argued the affidavit in support of the bail application for their clients, stating that they had health challenges.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that they prayed the court to grant them bail on liberal terms.

    In his ruling, the judge held that some paragraphs of the affidavit in support of the bail application filed by both counsel, contravened the provisions of Sections 115 of the Evidence Act.

    Idris held that the defence counsel had failed to substantiate reasonable grounds in support of their argument for bail.

    He said that there was no reference as to the time or circumstances surrounding their arguments as to the “ill health of the accused which is a reasonable ground for securing their bail.”

    “In view of this error, the affidavit is struck out and the bail application becomes bare and must be equally struck out.

    “It is hereby struck out,” he said.

    He, therefore, ordered for an accelerated hearing into the case and adjourned trial to March 13 and March 14.

    NAN reports that the judge had ordered the remand of the accused in prison custody on November 29, last year after they were arraigned on allegations of oil pipeline vandalism and murder.

    They had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

     

  • ‘Pipeline vandals recruited from riverine areas’

    The Nigerian Police Force has alleged that the suspected vandals that destroyed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation pipelines at Arepo village, Ogun, were recruited from Ondo State riverine areas.

    The Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in charge of the Inspector-General of Police Special Task Force on Anti-Pipeline Vandalism, Mr. Friday Ibadin, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Wednesday.

    Ibadin said the Arepo vandals went to Ondo State for the recruitment, after losing 30 of their members to a pipeline explosion recently in Ogun.

    He said that preliminary investigations into the last pipeline explosion revealed that some young men were brought to Lagos from riverine areas of Ondo State, to replace the dead members of the group.

    The preference for riverine dwellers, NAN learnt, is because of their ability to swim as most of the pipelines being vandalised are in the creeks.

    “One of the suspects arrested after the last explosion in Arepo, who identified himself as Computer, claimed that he was invited to Lagos along with two others by one Igbekorowa, (suspected ring leader of pipeline vandals).

    “According to the suspect, the person that invited them did not state the nature of the job waiting for them, because they believe he is a big man, and can assist them with good jobs,” Ibadin told NAN.

     

  • Pipeline vandals

    Pipeline vandals

    We cannot allow this plunder to continue in the face of poverty

    Reports quoting an unnamed Presidency source say Nigeria is losing about N105billion annually to the activities of pipeline vandals. This may be true. But, what did the government official expect from Nigerians to whom he made the disclosure? The official said nothing new though, because pipeline vandals have been with us for years. Without doubt, N105billion is a lot of money to lose annually, but that this has been on for years is indication of the lack of seriousness on the part of the government to deal with the hoodlums.

    Of course the pipelines are part of our national assets and should therefore be guarded jealously. Indeed, any threat to them ought to be treated as threat to national security because of the pivotal role that petroleum products play in our national life. But, how do Nigerians police about 5,120 kilometres of pipelines in the country? This is the question that the government has to provide an answer to.

    And, if the answer is in the negative, it means the ball is back in the government’s court. There are four means by which fuel could be distributed: the first is by transporting it by road; the second is by sea; the third by rail and the fourth is transporting it via the pipelines. For a country with a total land mass of about 910,770 sq km and a population of about 150 million, we will require about 1,061 trucks plying our roads daily, given the current contribution of about 35 million litres of PMS daily by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the national demand. The risks are legion: first is the problem of security of the products; then, the wear and tear on the roads; again, we have to contend with the likely increase in road accidents, etc. So, the road option is out of it.

    Transportation by either rail or sea is also not feasible given the dilapidated state of the infrastructure in both the sea and rail sectors. So, we are left with the pipelines. This being the case, the government has to invest massively in providing the pipelines and maintaining them, even as it has to ensure they are relatively secure. But what do we see? Government continues to inundate us with the havoc wreaked by pipeline vandals as if it is completely helpless in the situation. And, if in spite of the massive instruments of coercion at its disposal the government cannot rein in the vandals, who can?

    The fact is that the vandals have seen vandalism as a thriving business and they are ready to go all out to achieve their aim, irrespective of the effects on the economy or even on their lives. There have been instances when their activities had resulted in the deaths of some of them and even innocent members of the public; yet, they are not deterred.

    Their desperation could be seen in the gruesome murder, a few months ago, of three engineers of the Pipeline Products and Marketing Company (PPMC) who went to repair vandalised pipelines at Arepo, Ogun State. Months after, the PPMC is yet to gain access to the vandalised points to effect repairs as a result of security challenges. What impression is the government trying to create: that the vandals are larger than the government?

    Security of lives and property as well as national assets like the pipelines is the government’s duty. And it is the job of the regular security agencies – the police and the military. We have argued that the more than N5billion so-called security contracts to militants to protect the pipelines was mere job for the boys. Government must think of more creative ways to deal with the problem. What Nigerians want is security for the pipelines and not unending excuses of the challenges posed by the pipeline vandals.