The Ebonyi State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, said it has uncovered a suspected illegal petroleum refinery in Abakaliki, the state capital.
The corps said it impounded an articulated vehicle with the number plate Abuja ABC 624 XC, about to discharge 45,000 litres of suspected stolen unrefined petroleum product at the refinery.
Francis Nnadi, the NSCDC state commandant, announced this in a press conference on Monday in Abakaliki, noting that four suspected oil thieves involved in the illegal transportation of the product were also arrested.
According to him: “Our men on Saturday night, acting on credible intelligence, tracked a truck ladened with unrefined suspected petroleum product conveyed from Cross River to Abakaliki.
“The vehicle and four suspects involved in the illegal activity were arrested at a remote but densely populated area located at 18 Engr. Abbas Egwu Street, off Ebonyi Voice Newspaper, along the Old Abakaliki-Enugu Road.
“The place is suspected to be used for illegal refining of petroleum products in the state. On interrogation, the driver said he trans-loaded the product from another truck, adding that the waybill read somewhere in Cross River.
“The danger is not only that they are doing this illegal refining but in a densely populated environment. Every petroleum product is inflammable and hazardous, and this refinery is located in an environment where people are living.”
He said that the premises used for the alleged illegal refinery have been sealed, stressing that further investigations are ongoing to unmask those involved in the economic sabotage.
He further disclosed that the impounded product would undergo laboratory analysis while the suspects would be arraigned in court at the end of the investigation.
Meanwhile, Ben Nwachi, the officer who led the NSCDC crack team that intercepted and arrested the suspects, said in an interview: “The truck is billed to go to Cross River and according to the waybill, what is written there is Low Poor Fuel Oil, but it is a suspected crude oil product.
“They want to come and discharge it at the illegal refining site here in Abakaliki. They have bought some GP tanks and have even gone to buy more and other materials used for the illegal refining business.
“We got the information and intercepted them; this truck carrying the product was not the original truck that loaded it at the depot according to their waybill; this is a different truck entirely.
“Again, they have locked the truck’s three compartments up and the discharging point down such that nobody is even sure whether what is on the waybill is actually what the truck is carrying.
“So, they wanted to discharge the product in an unregistered and unlicensed outlet; you don’t discharge petroleum product in that manner; it’s from a depot to a licenced outlet.”
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