The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), on Wednesday, said 14 persons were arrested for allegedly stealing crude oil in Abia State.
A statement by the NSCDC spokesperson, Babawale Afolabi, in Abuja, said the suspects operated an illegal refinery in a forest at Umelehi, Ukwa West Local Government Area of the state.
Afolabi said that after the arrest of the suspects by the Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad (CGsSIS), the illegal site was dismantled.
He said the commander of the Squad, Apollos Dandaura, attributed the successful arrest to the credible intelligence provided to the corps by well-meaning Nigerians.
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“Our operatives were strategically positioned due to the quantity of already siphoned crude oil which were loaded in locally fabricated cooking ovens for refining into Automotive Gas Oil (AGO).
“Some had been refined into Kerosene and AGO with both stored in GP tanks, cellophane bags and many sacks,” he said.
The spokesperson pledged a thorough investigation to ascertain the level of involvement of the suspects.
According to Afolabi, some of the recovered exhibits were generators, pumping machines, hoses, galvanised metal pipes, shovels, head flashlights, cellophane bags and bags of cement, among others.
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