|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, has confirmed that the police’s Special Task Force on Petroleum and Illegal Bunkering has confiscated 123 oil vessels comprising tankers, lorries, barges, buses, lorries and other vehicles.
The unit, he said, has also seized 1,301,020 litres of Automotive Gas Oil, 135,000 litres of crude oil, 4,900 litres of Premium Motor Spirit and 45,000 litres of engine oil.
Force spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, adding that the force is prosecuting 52 of such cases nationwide.
Baba reiterated his administration’s commitment to continuously improve the capacity of its officers through training and acquiring top-notch investigative and operational assets to sustain the fight against oil theft and other crimes capable of sabotaging the country’s economy.
Adejobi said, “In one of the cases, operatives of the IGP-STFPIB successfully discovered the operations of an illegal refinery on September 21, 2022, in Jijoro Community Riverside, Delta State, a creek of about one-hour boat ride.
without any prejudice.
“Also, the IGP has called for increased support particularly in expanding the scope of our courts and confer jurisdictional competence to hear petroleum and illegal bunkering matters, as well as provision of storage capacity for exhibits recovered during special operation pending the determination of a suit by the courts,” he said.
