Operatives of the National Security and Civil Defence Corps in Delta State have arrested four bunkery suspects and intercepted six tankers and articulated trucks loaded with stolen and illegally refined petroleum products suspected to be automated gasoline oil.
The NSCDC spokesperson in the state, Emeka Okwechime, confirmed the development in a statement on Wednesday.
He said men of the Special Intelligence Squad of the NSCDC burst into the suspects’ secret loading point at Odorubu waterside, in the Patani Local Government Area of the state.
He added that the suspected vandals used a tanker to barricade the only road leading to the illegal loading point to prevent security operatives from gaining access to the premises.
Okwechime said, “The officers engaged the services of six truck drivers, two auto electricians and a tow truck, which towed away the heavily loaded 120-litres capacity truck used by the crude oil thieves to barricade the road leading to the illegal loading point.
“Consequently, the four suspects were arrested in a separate operation in Warri with a Toyota Camry blue car with number plate BMA 786 TN and a Toyota Sienna with number plate KSF 107 CD, both loaded with illegally refined petroleum product suspected to be AGO concealed in 25-litre polythene sacks numbering about 300.”
Okwechime identified the names of the suspects as Clement Mike, 34; Tobore Morgan, 39; Chinwe Ikpeamachukwu, 40, and Jeff Oluchi, 29, now at large.
He said the suspects were currently undergoing investigation and would be charged to court accordingly to serve as a deterrent to others.
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