Pregnant Woman, Two Minor, Nine Others Arrested for Oil Bunkering in Ondo
Fidelis David in Akure
The Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has arrested a pregnant woman, two minors and nine other suspects involved in alleged illegal oil bunkering in the state.
This was contained in a statement made available to Journalists in Akure yesterday by the command’s Public Relations Officer, Daniel Aidamebor.
The statement quoted the Commandant of the Corps, Dr. Hammed Abodunrin, as explaining that the suspects were arrested at Waterway in Iju-Osun, Irele Local Government Area of the state with products suspected to be adulterated diesel.
He noted that the quantity had not been ascertained, adding that the product was packed in drums, polythene bags and jerrycans loaded in four wooden boats.
Abodunrin said the arrest of the suspects was in response to the directive of NSCDC Commandant General to reorganise the corps’ anti-vandalism unit to strengthen its operations.
He said that the command had benefited from the recent deployment of gunboats to beep up operations in the waterways.
“All these efforts have started yielding positive results. As of Sunday, 11 suspects were arrested with products suspected to be adulterated AGO. One of them is a heavily pregnant woman and two are minors, so we decided not to take them into custody because of their conditions.
“We have taken their statements, whenever we need them we will pick them up and we are going to conduct an investigation immediately and take them to court as soon as we conclude our investigation,” he said.
Abodunrin alleged that the suspects were unable to say where they got the consignment from and conveying it to, warning criminals to stay away from the state, as the corps was determined to track, arrest and prosecute them.
The NSCDC commandant urged members of the public to be vigilant and always give adequate information for the corps to stem vandalism of critical national assets in the state.
“It’s a renewed fight against oil theft, against economic sabotage and a renewed fight to ensure that citizens can be sure of what their country can give them,” he said.
