Police clamp down on oil thieves, drag arrested suspects, vessels to court
Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force attached to the Inspector-General of Police Special Task Force on Petroleum and Illegal Bunkering (IGP-STFPIB), have clamped down on some suspected crude oil thieves, who are specialised in breaking of oil pipelines in the South South region of the country.
Daily Trust Saturday reports that security forces, including the Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the security company, which is being operated by a former militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, have in recent times stepped up their operations.
The recent development was in line with the directive of the President Bola Tinubu to the security operatives to tackle economic saboteurs in order to increase Nigeria’s revenue from oil, which is the mainstay of the economy in the country.
Specifically, the recent involvement of the police, an agency that has prosecuting powers, was occasioned by the outrage from critical stakeholders, who demanded that instead of destroying the arrested vessels, it should be prosecuted and possibly secure its forfeiture to the government.
It was gathered that police operatives, in collaboration with the Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, a surveillance company intercepted a vessel called MT Kali on January 11, 2024 with 23 crew members, who were caught in the act of stealing crude oil from a well head.
A document seen by our correspondent showed that as at the time of their arrest, the vessel belonged to Deep Space Frontline Shippers Limited, a company belonging to some Indian nationals.
A security source confided in Daily Trust Saturday that immediately the vessel and the crew members were arrested over conspiracy to tamper with oil pipelines with 200,000 litres of stolen crude oil and other offences, the Indians claimed to have sold the vessel recently to some Nigerians.
The suspects, who were supposed to be arraigned in court last Tuesday by the police, are currently in the detention facility of the military and would be properly arraigned in court on February 26, 2024.
When contacted to find out the status of the matter in court, the spokesman of the police, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, an assistant commissioner of police, promised to get back with detailed information. He was yet to do so as of time of filing this report.