Breaking: Five Trucks Arrested With Illegal Petroleum Products – NSCDC

Five trucks were seized by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Rivers State for transporting illegally refined petroleum products.

In connection with oil theft and unlawful trading in petroleum products, one suspect was also detained.

Michael Ogar, the NSCDC State Commandant for Rivers, explained to reporters in his office in Port Harcourt that while two of the five trucks were seized by the Command’s Antivandal Team, the other three trucks were seized by a Joint Task Force for transporting 142,000 liters of petroleum products without the necessary licenses or documentation.

Ogar said that one Abubakar Suleiman, age 20, was detained by the Command’s Antivandal Team while driving an open-body long truck with built inner tanks meant to transport illegally refined petroleum products on Azikiwe Road in Port Harcourt.

According to Ogar, the suspect put petroleum products into secret tanks on the truck and covered them with animal feeds to distract the attention of the security personnel, but thanks to the vigilant eyes of its personnel, the truck was seized and the suspect was apprehended.

The NSCDC director noted that another large vehicle was seized after receiving a tip while transporting illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) with noodles packs.

He gave the people of Nigeria the assurance that following a thorough investigation, the suspect would be prosecuted in court and that the tankers and their contents would be forfeited to the Federal Government once a court with appropriate authority had rendered its decision.

The head of the NSCDC noted that the amount of soot in the state’s atmosphere has greatly decreased and said that the three-month crackdown on illicit bunkering operations in Rivers has been generally effective.