The Lagos State command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NCDC) has disclosed that its men foiled an attempt by vandals to make away with 20 sack-loads of petroleum products (apparently siphoned from oil pipelines) in the Akute-Odo/Aruwajoye Area, a boundary between Lagos and Ogun States.
The incident happened on Friday July 30, 2021, around midnight, according to a statement by the agency.
Operatives of the command’s ‘Right of Way’ unit, led by their commander, Deputy Superintendent of Corps (DSC) Gbenga Akinnibosun, had stormed the area, acting on intelligence and busted the vandals’ operations.
On sighting the officers, the vandals fled, leaving the stolen products.
“The command’s combined team discovered and evacuated thick nylons (white colour) wrapped with sacks loaded with unknown quantity of litres of petrol, numbering twenty (20), and another hundreds of empty 25litre kegs, which the vandals intended to cart away via a wooden path around the submerged area of Akute-Odo /Aruwajoye in a boundary between Lagos and Ogun states.
“The hundreds of empty 25litre kegs discovered were also utterly destroyed by the gallant men, so as to discourage the act from being further perpetrated,” the statement added.
The agency said the evacuated products had since been brought to the state command headquarters at Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos for further investigation.
The commandant of the agency in the state, Eweka Douglas Okoro, has also directed that the security of lives and property and the protection of oil pipelines in the area be beefed up immediately, adding that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) office in the state had been contacted for proper evacuation of the products because of its inflammable nature.
He reiterated the command’s commitment to ensuring zero tolerance against oil pipeline vandalism and other forms of criminalities in the state.
He also assured residents of the state and the state government of his commitment and dedication towards sustaining the already established peace and security in the state.
Okoro also promised that the corps under his leadership would continue to work with the state government and other security services or agencies and stakeholders to proffer solutions to any form of security challenges in the state.