Police Seize Two Vessels Laden With Over 500,000 Litres In Rivers

The Inspector-General of Police Special Force on Petroleum and Illegal Oil Bunkering said it has commenced a manhunt for the owners of a vessel and ship used by oil thieves to steal 500,000 litres of fuel.

The stolen petroleum product, which was suspected to be Automotive Gas Oil, was seized by the IGP task force during one of its operations in Rivers State.

It was reported that the Commander of the team, Safiyanu Gwarzo, had through intelligence, raided the Eagle Island axis of Port Harcourt, when the ship and vessel were about leaving the point of loading.

Commander of the Intelligence, IGP team on Petroleum and Illegal Bunkering, Usman Jibrin, told newsmen on Friday that apart from confiscating the stolen products, two suspects were arrested by the team in connection with the illegal business.

Jibrin stated that the feat was made possible through the intelligence gathering of the unit of the task force.

He commended the men for a job well done on the interception and seizure of the ship and a vessel carrying over 500,000 litres of stolen petroleum products on December 3, 2019.

“We got information that illegal business has been going on with the vessels. When we got the information, we started monitoring it and tracked them down. When they saw our men, they took to flight and we were able to arrest some of them.

“We are still on with the investigation into finding out the real owners of this vessel. We have also taken a sample of the product and we will send it to the Department of Petroleum Resource to confirm if the product is AGO.”

Jibrin further warned, that anyone caught in illegal oil bunkering or related crimes would not be spare, he also cautioned those involved in such acts to desist from it.