The ongoing campaign to reform the Nigeria Police Force has suffered a crippling blow as operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps apprehended two mobile policemen in connection with illegal oil bunkering in Bayelsa State, south-south Nigeria.
According to Punch, the suspects were originally three but one of them allegedly fled the scene, leaving behind a vehicle loaded with the stolen petroleum product and his identification card.
The yet to be identified policemen were arrested in a bust on Friday at about 5:30pm along Otuasiga Okaki Road in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state, with over 412 litres of suspected illegally-refined Automative Gas Oil (diesel) recovered from the operation.
As of the time of filing this report, the two mobile policemen and their stolen products are cooling off at the command headquarters of NSCDC in Yenagoa, having being conveyed there by a special squad of anti-illegal bunkering team.
Though the state Commandant of the Corps, Mr. Desmond Agu, has yet to react to the development, a senior security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the arrest.
“A team of civil defence operatives intercepted them along the Otuasiga Road, Ogbia Local Government Area. They were caught with about 412 litres of adulterated petroleum products,” he said.
“They were three but one of them ran away leaving behind the products and his ID card. They are currently being detained at the NSCDC headquarters in Yenagoa.”
Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer, Bayelsa State Command, Mr. Asinim Butswat, maintained that they were yet to be informed of the incident.
In a bid to curb the menace of illegal bunkering, the Federal Government last year, empowered the NSCDC with better logistics and aerial surveillance tools in prone regions of the country.
The results have been positive, as oil production has exceeded the 2 million bpd mark, and illegal refining drastically reduced.
