We have union for illegal bunkering, says vandal

A suspected pipeline vandal, Mr. Akin Akinyele, has told men of the Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) that there is a union for illegal oil marketers dealing in adulterated petroleum products and pipeline vandalism. Akinyele, who is the chairman of the union, was among the four suspects paraded by the NSCDC for alleged dealing in petroleum illegally. Others are Alao Yusuf, Aremu Saidi and Hassan Jimoh. The Anti-Vandal operatives of the
NSCDC had raided the outlets and storage facilities of illegal oil syndicate on the Lagos Expressway in Odigbo Local Government Area.
The state NSCDC Commandant, Mr. Pedro Awili Ideba, who paraded the suspects, said the raid was carried out at Ajibandele area of Odigbo where it was discovered that a lot of shops along the road were being run by illegal marketers. He said 200,000 litres of suspected adulterated Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) were destroyed while 2,710 litres were seized.
The marketers, he said, were stealing and adulterating the petroleum products. According to him, the illegal marketers finance and sponsor those who break the pipelines to siphon crude oil and locally refine them in the creeks within the state. The NSCDC boss said during the raid, the suspects attacked officers of the Anti-Vandal Squad and barricaded the Ore-Lagos Expressway. Ideba implored the citizens to be security conscious and also report to security agencies illegal dealings in petroleum products. But Akinyele claimed there was a union for the illegal marketers in the area and that they usually purchase the petroleum products from petroleum tanker drivers.
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