Crime
NSCDC busts major bunkering operation in Rivers, arrests three
The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps said its operatives busted and dismantled a massive illegal refinery site and arrested three suspects in the Odagwa community, Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The security outfit said the operation which lasted for several hours, led to a site in the forest where the illegal siphoning of crude oil was taking place after the criminals destroyed the manifold of a multinational oil company.
The NSCDC Commandant, Rivers State Command, Basil Igwebueze disclosed this while speaking to journalists at the scene in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Monday.
Igwebueze, who was represented by the corps’ spokesperson in the state, SP Olufemi Ayodele, said the operation was conducted by the Special Intelligence Squad codenamed ‘SIS’ of the NSCDC Commandant-General, Dr. Ahmed Abubakar.
He said the CG emphasised the need to step up the operational and intelligence mechanism in the protection of critical national assets and infrastructure across the country.
He equally noted that Abubakar has an unwavering determination in waging continuous war against illegal dealings in petroleum products, oil theft, vandalism of oil pipelines, and all forms of economic sabotage, saying, “Within a very short period, the CG’s SIS has dismantled over 350 illegal bunkering sites in the Niger Delta area while hundreds of suspects have been arrested and prosecuted in the court of competent jurisdiction.”
He stated that “today, the Commandant-General’s Special Intelligence Squad swung into action and arrested three suspects while others took to their heels, manoeuvring the forest due to the terrain.”
He narrated how a large multinational’s manifold was invaded through a broken fence, and large industrial hoses were used to siphon crude oil and transmitted through numerous metal galvanised pipes to cooking pots and further stored in reservoirs for onward loading to would-be buyers. The massive illegal bunkering site was dismantled
“Having walked through this thick forest, you have practically seen how the manifold and oil wellhead was vandalised by unscrupulous elements.
“They tapped into the source and buried the hoses and pipes underground, waiting for the multinationals to pump the crude. Immediately the pumping starts, they commence their nefarious operations through illegal local refining of crude to derive Automotive Gas Oil, DPK, and other products,” the state commandant said.
While answering questions on the reason for the continuous rebuilding of some illegal bunkering sites after being dismantled by security agencies, he said that the fight against illegal bunkering is a strategic war that must be fought with a collective will and consciousness, especially with the fact that such acts cause environmental degradation, pollination, and health hazard.
“To eradicate black soot, the locals and all stakeholders must come to terms to say no to the operation of illegal local refineries and other activities which cause more harm to the people and the environment as well.
“On this note, I wish to reiterate the words of the NSCDC boss that the fight against oil theft, vandalism, and illegal dealings in petroleum products is non-negotiable as the NSCDC is fully committed to its statutory mandate of safeguarding all critical national assets and infrastructure.
“We will do this relentlessly and without compromise,” Igwebueze added.
Commodore Nanmar Lakan, Commander Nigerian Navy Ship SOROH (NNS) said the command has arrested two persons for crude oil theft and seized a wooden boat laden with 12,000 litres of Automated Gas Oil (AGO).
Lakan disclosed this while parading the suspects at Okarki waterfront on Friday.
He said that the suspects were arrested at Okariki waterfront, in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers.
Lakan explained that the arrest was made in line with the mandate of Operation Delta Sanity, which includes anti-crude oil theft, anti-pipeline vandalism, and anti-illegal refining sites among others.
“Working with intelligence gathering from the good citizens of this country, we received credible information that some people want to move illegally refined AGO, popularly known as diesel from the Okarki River.
“We dispatched our men there, and they arrested two suspects.
“The quantity of the AGO is estimated to be 12,000 litres refined illegally,” he said.
He urged those involved in illegality to desist from such and look for a better way of livelihood, as such illegal business was harmful to the society, and the nation at large.
According to him, the nation is losing a lot economically, so I advise them to stop, if not we are determined to rid the entire area of this illegal business.
He appealed to members of the public and lawful citizens, to give relevant information to security agencies particularly the NNS SOROH to carry out its tasks.
The commander said that the suspects and the products would be handed over to the appropriate security agency because there was a standing procedure for handling such issues.
He expressed the commitment of the navy to rid the waterways of criminals and urged those involved in illegal oil bunkering to desist from it or face the wrath of the law.
Speaking to newsmen, one of the suspects, Mr Clement Fimeya, said that he was doing it to feed his four children because of lack of job opportunities.
He pleaded for forgiveness and promised never to indulge in such illegality if granted a pardon by the appropriate security agency.
The Supreme Court has discharged and acquitted a Nigerian Army sergeant, Akawu Bala, of the death sentence imposed on him by the General Court Martial of the Nigerian Army.
The respite came the way of the embattled army sergeant after spending 12 years in Kaduna prison waiting for ratification of the death sentence passed on him.
Delivering judgement in an appeal he lodged at the Supreme Court on March 16, 2017, a five-man panel of justices of the Supreme Court unanimously discharged him from the death penalty.
Sergeant Bala was accused by the Nigerian Army of shooting Isa Mohammed on December 9, 2012, when he was attached to the African Petroleum Station at Sabon Tasha, Kaduna, with an AK-47 gun.
The victim of the gunshot was said to have died on December 10, 2012, at Saint Gerald’s Catholic Hospital in Kaduna.
Following his indictment, he was put on trial for murder, which is punishable under Section 106 of the Armed Forces Act 2014, before the General Court Martial on a two-count charge and was found guilty of murder and subsequently sentenced to death by hanging.
On February 17, 2017, his appeal against the death penalty was upheld by the Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division, on the ground that the charge sheet upon which he was tried and convicted was not signed by a General Commanding Officer as required by law.
Justice Obietonbara Daniel Kalo, who read the Court of Appeal’s lead judgement, declared the process of the trial and conviction of the Sergeant a nullity but refused to discharge him from the nullified trial, promoting further appeal to the Supreme Court.
His lead counsel, Mr Reuben Okpanachi Atabo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, had argued on behalf of the convict that, having declared the trial of his client, a nullity, the Court of Appeal ought to have made a consequential order to discharge the accused person from the flawed trial.
He drew the attention of the apex court to Section 193 of the Armed Forces Act 2014, which prohibits the retrial of any military personnel after his trial has been voided and set aside.
The Nigerian Army, through its lead counsel, Isaac Udoka, vehemently objected to the arguments of the defence appellant and prayed that the apex court should order the retrial of the convict in the interest of justice.
In the Supreme Court judgement in the appeal marked SC/889/2017, Justice Helen Morenikeji Ogunwumiju, however, agreed with Atabo that the Court of Appeal ought to have discharged the accused person having voided his trial and declared it a nullity.
Justice Ogunwumiju subsequently invoked Section 193 of the Armed Forces Act 2014 and set the convict free, adding that the ordinary meaning of Section 193 of the Armed Forces Act 2014 is that the accused person can no longer stand another trial.
The apex court, while rejecting the arguments of the Army’s lawyer, thereafter ordered the immediate release of the convict from Kaduna prison, where he had been on remand since 2012.
Apart from Justice Ogunwumiju, the other justices on the panel were Uwani Musa Abba Aji, Chidiebere Nwaoma Uwa, Stephen Jonah Ada and Abubakar Sadiq Umar.
Sergeant Bala had in his defence claimed that he fired a gunshot at Isa Mohammed and one other person when they walked towards him in the dark at the African Petroleum Station and his order to them to go back was rebuffed, prompting him to fire at them before they could capture him.
The convict claimed that he fired the gun at the two men because it was during the peak of Boko Haram activity in Kaduna.
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