Eight suspects have been arrested by the Anti-vandal squad of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Akwa Ibom State, for criminal conspiracy and illegal dealing in petroleum products.
Seven trucks conveying a combined capacity of about 315,000 litres of suspected adulterated and illegal Automated Gas oil (AGO) popularly known as diesel were also impounded by the corps.
The petroleum tankers and the drivers were apprehended along Calabar-Itu highway by operatives, who noticed discrepancies in the waybills presented by the drivers of the trucks.
The seven trucks, carrying about 45,000 litres of AGO each, were all loaded from Rivers State and headed for Adamawa, Kano and Nassarawa states according to the waybills provided.
The state’s new commandant of NSCDC Chief Commander (C.C) Suleiman Ibrahim Mafara, who disclosed this on Sunday said investigation and close scrutiny of the waybills showed that they were falsified, giving credence to the fact that the petroleum products were illegally acquired.
Mafara said the suspects were arrested based on intelligence and surveillance by operatives of the anti-vandals unit of the command on July 7, along the Calabar-Itu highway, barely 24 hours after his assumption of duty in the state.
He assured that the suspects will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded. While stressing that the activities of vandals and criminals were economic sabotage, he assured that the Command would not relent on its mandate of protecting government critical assets and infrastructure from vandalism.
