The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on Wednesday said that 14 persons were arrested for allegedly stealing crude oil in Abia.
A statement by the NSCDC Spokesperson, Babawale Afolabi in Abuja stated that 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 nine male and four female suspects by the Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad (CGsSIS), the illegal site got dismantled.
He said that the Commander of the Squad, Apollo’s Dandaura, attributed the successful arrest to the credible intelligence provided to the corps by well-meaning Nigerians.
“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 that thorough investigation would be carried out to ascertain the level of involvement of the suspects.
According to Afolabi, some of the recovered exhibits were; generator sets, pumping machines, hoses, galvanised metal pipes, shovels, head flashlights, cellophane bags, bags of cement among others.
He reiterated the commitment of the NSCDC to safeguarding all critical national assets.
The NSCDC spokesman said that the corps would prosecute the oil thieves and their sponsors.