- NSCDC officials, Police supervise our operations, patrons allege
- We’re not involved – NSCDC
Barely two years after law enforcement agents burst a cartel of petroleum pipeline vandals in some Ogun State communities, the fuel bunkerers are now back on the illegal beat, investigations by The Point have revealed.
According to findings, the bunkerers are currently having a field day, scooping and selling fuel in large quantities, at discreet locations.
A month-long investigation showed that the vandals had dugouts on pipelines along Akute and Arepo areas, and had been operating with no interference from security agents, who sources alleged to be willing collaborators.
Findings showed that they had re-strategised their operations, having allegedly engaged the services of some security agencies like the men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Nigeria Police, for protection while carrying out their illicit activities.
This latest twist to the fuel bunkering menace puts the publicised Federal Government’s efforts at curbing the illegal activities in jeopardy, as the lingering fuel scarcity appears to have shaped the general perception that such illegality could be condoned for the sake of fuel availability.
It was observed that in the Akute-Odo area of Akute, Ifo South Local Council Development Area, some policemen and officials of the NSCDC often visited the bunkering site, filling each of their Hillux trucks with at least 10 containers of either 28 or 50 litres fuel. They were sighted twice in a week. The site is close to an inn named Tof Hotel,
The Point also found that several residents did not buy fuel from the filling stations, especially as the fuel scarcity bit harder, as they preferred the ones bought from the vandals.
“There is no point wasting money on transportation and energy of queuing up for hours to buy at the filling stations, when we can buy from a black market close to us. Another reason we prefer it is because, it is cheaper here than at the stations, as most of the fuel stations have tampered with their meters. We buy 28 litres in stations at N4,500 or more while the same quantity is sold for N3,500 at the black market,” a resident of the area told The Point.
Though our correspondent found, in Arepo, that some of the armed security men, who launched Operation-fire-for-fire against the vandals in August 2016, were still at the site, he, however, observed that the bunkerers still carried out their operations using other routes while the armed men looked the other way.
While scores of motorcycle operators, popularly called ‘Okada’ riders, were driving into the area with empty 28-litre and 50-litre containers, they were also seen coming out of the area with the containers filled with petrol.
About 10 okada riders were seen driving out of the area, carrying two filled 50-litre or four 30-litre containers every 30 minutes for onward delivery to their clients. These clients, who mainly operate on the fringes of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, were sighted selling the stolen fuel between N200 per litre and N350 per litre in the heat of the fuel scarcity problem.
Also, according to findings, while the bunkerers at the sites sell over 300 28-litre containers every week at N3,500 per keg to some wholesalers, they sell the same quantity at N3,000 to clients that buy for personal consumption. This means they rake in over N1 million, each, on a weekly basis.
‘SECURITY OPERATIVES SUPERVISE VANDALS’
Some of the ‘okada’ riders, who spoke with our correspondent in separate interviews, alleged that some men of the NSCDC supervised the operations of the vandals.
One of them, who simply identified himself as John, told our correspondent that, most times, some of the security operatives assisted the vandals in carrying the containers loaded with petrol in Arepo.
“They resumed operations last year during the fuel scarcity and nobody has been able to stop them. Most of the security operatives look the other way as they also seem to be benefitting from the illegal business,” he said.
As far as a retired teacher and a resident in one of the estates at Arepo, Ms. Felicia Adewale, is concerned, the Federal Government cannot curb the menace “more so that cases of corruption among top politicians are no longer reported in the media.”
She said whenever she challenged some of the vandals and security operatives, they argued that as long as politicians could also steal billions of naira from the nation’s purse, they would continue scoop fuel from busted pipelines.
She said, “The vandals, who are largely from the South South, believe that the fuel from the pipeline is their own national cake, which they are not ready to abandon for now. The security operatives make matters worse because, in most cases, they aid the menace.
“In most cases, security operatives also partake in the business, selling petrol at cheaper rates to their clients as they struggle with the vandals for clients. When an elderly man challenged them over their illegal operations, they almost shot at him as they fired gunshots into the air to scare the old man.
“We have reported to a nearby police station but nothing has been done to curb the illicit activities.”
DEMAND IS HUGE
– RETAILERS
A resident of Magboro, Ogun State, who identified herself as Hajia Modinat, has been patronising the vandals since 2013.
She suffered from the clampdown by the security operatives in August 2016, as the middle-aged woman was forced to sell one of her two three-bedroom flat bungalows in the area and her only car when it became difficult for her to feed herself and three children, especially when her husband eloped with another lover.
But today, Elaha, as she is fondly called by her patrons, has bounced back, as she has bought more parcels of land and replaced her car with a Sport Utility Vehicle.
As a retailer, she makes over N200,000 as proceeds from the ‘black market’ at the end of every month, especially since December 2017, when the fuel scarcity ate deep into the fabrics of the nation.
Speaking to our correspondent, who disguised as one of her patrons, she said she vowed not to sell petrol again when she was nabbed and beaten by some security operatives, but changed her mind when she realised that the operations of the vandals were now being supervised by men of the NSCDC and other security agencies.
“Since I have started selling petrol, I have recovered from the loss I incurred in 2016 and there is no going back for now because there is a huge demand for the product and most times, we don’t meet the demands of our clients,” she disclosed.
Mrs. Iyabo Osho is another client of the vandals. The mother of six, who sells frozen and smoked fish as a disguise, started selling petrol in her neighbourhood along Makogi road, around Temi-Asese area, in May 2017.
According to her, Eleha’s achievements (houses and cars), gave her hope that she could earn more from the illegal business.
Not minding the risk involved, in terms of possible fire incident or being nabbed by security operatives, Osho, who started with the proceeds she made from the fish business, has already made a profit of over N2 million in less than a year.
The sellers, according to findings, either keep their goods in uncompleted buildings close to their houses, or in the kitchen, store or abandoned rooms in their houses.
In the case of Osho, she rented a room in the next building to hers, where she keeps her wares.
Our correspondent also found that in most cases, the sellers used their children that were between 10 and 14 years old as sales personnel, not minding their exposure to danger of explosion.
When our correspondent counselled them not to expose their wards to such potential inferno, Osho responded, “There can’t be an explosion because we observe certain safety measures. I always ask them to use torchlight while dispensing fuel and not mobile phones, to prevent an explosion. We have to use children to avoid being suspected or caught by security operatives. If anyone comes around and requests for petrol, we usually deny selling because we know they are strangers. I have told my clients to call it ‘water’ whenever they come
around.”
CORPS OFFICIALS DON’T AID BUNKERING – NSCDC
On the allegation levelled against its men by residents of Akute and Arepo, the Deputy Manager, Communications, NSCDC, Lagos State Command, Mr. Kehinde Bada, told The Point that the officials of the Corps did not engage in such menace because it was illegal.
“Our officials know the implications of engaging in illegal operations and that keeps them away from such an act. We have not received any report in that regard but we will investigate and get to the roots of the matter. There is a military base in that area, which is controlled by soldiers, and that is enough to scare any vandal from the illegal business,” he said.
There is no point wasting money on transportation and energy of queuing up for hours to buy at the filling stations, when we can buy from a black market close to us
WAR AGAINST VANDALS
Meanwhile, men of the Nigerian Air Force had conducted a five-day intense aerial operation while men of the Armed Forces and other security operatives smashed the defence of the vandals more than one year ago. They (the vandals) are believed to be natives of some South South communities, who have been operating in the area since August 2016.
The Special Boat Service of the Nigerian Navy led the ground assault against the vandals as they fired their way into the heart of the vandals’ empire, where several security men had, at various times, been killed and
buried.
After the security operatives’ raid, thousands of 50-litre, marked plastic containers, ammunition and other tools used for syphoning fuel were found and destroyed. Several men of the Armed Forces and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps were deployed in the area to prevent any surprise attack by the armed
vandals.
