Soldiers have arrested two suspects who specialised in vandalising pipelines belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in the Denro-Isashi area of Ogun State.
The soldiers also recovered and impounded a suspected NNPC branded petroleum tanker form the suspects.
Some of the suspected vandals ,who earlier got wind of the soldiers’ plans to storm the area and arrest them, managed to escape in three other fuel tankers from the scene of the crime.
Residents of the area had expressed fears over the illegal activities of vandals in the area, saying that they had become a threat to the entire community.
A resident of the area, Olu Adegbenro, disclosed that the soldiers dressed in camouflage came in six vehicles and arrested two of the vandals and also confiscated one tanker painted in the colour of the national oil giant ‘NNPC.’
Adegbenro said, “The vandals were there two weeks ago and we saw them using their pipe to pump the petroleum product belonging to the corporation. We thank God that soldiers came to our rescue at Denro- Isashi in Ogun State. The soldiers in camouflage uniform came to the scene and apprehended two of the economic saboteurs.
“They even had the boldness to use NNPC tanker to carry out their illegal activities. The soldiers impounded the vehicle. The soldiers also brought a vehicle with camera antenna or is it CCTV they call it, which they used in monitoring the activities of vandals. We, in this community, have been celebrating the success of the soldiers. Enough is enough.”
One of the leaders of the community, Bamijoko Gbolahan, disclosed that soldiers killed two of the vandals recently.
Showering encomium on the soldiers, he said, “I trust Nigerian soldiers. I believe in them. Soldiers killed two vandals recently, yet, that would not teach them a lesson. The vandals usually arrive at the scene at midnight and in some cases, when the residents of the community would be fast asleep. The country must have lost billions of naira to these set of vandals. Let soldiers be positioned in Denro- Isashi community permanently so that we can sleep with our two eyes closed. Why I’m saying this is because the vandals can cause pipeline explosion in the area; we don’t want such to happen.
“We, the people of Denro- Isashi are appealing to government to keep the soldiers in the community to prevent fire disaster in the area. And to also stop these petrol thieves from continuing their activities in the area. We cannot run away from our community because of them. Since we cannot stop them, the government should help us to stop them. We heard that sometimes they come with dangerous weapons when they want to vandalise petroleum product pipelines. What can we do? We don’t have the power and the police cannot handle them. That is for sure. We thank God for today that soldiers have been sent to check their illegal activities.”
Another member of the community, Joseph Adeoye, said, “These vandals have been perpetrating these act for a very long time and in some cases, they would come with about ten tankers and above to vandalise NNPC pipelines and steal the products. I’m happy that the soldiers have arrested these two
vandals.
“The government should also investigate who drove the NNPC vehicles to the crime scene to vandalise the pipelines. The driver wouldn’t have made the decision alone. Somebody must have linked him up and would pay ‘heavy’ compensation for each operation. What I’m saying is that there must be a senior staff of NNPC that the driver and conductor are working for.”