SHOCKER!!! We ‘Settled’ Soldiers Before Smuggling Oil - Suspected Vandals Reveal

Three suspected vandals have been arrested for engaging in oil bunkering around the creeks in FESTAC Town, Lagos State. The suspects – Johnson Igadu, 25, Daniel Poku, 25, and 26-year-old Sterling Longlife, told Punch Metro that they carried out the operation after allegedly getting assurances from some military officers that nothing would go wrong. The suspects, who were paraded on Tuesday at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps’, Lagos State Command headquarters in Ikeja, said their kingpin, identified as Soji, was still at large. 

According to Punch, Soji had on May 21, 2016 engaged the suspects to convey 10 barrels of fuel in a boat from 7th Avenue, FESTAC Town, to a place called Ghana village, saying he had “settled” the military men monitoring the waterways in the area. It was learnt that the gang had scaled through with the fuel at two checkpoints reportedly manned by soldiers before luck ran out on them.

Igadu, who hails from Warri, Delta State, said he could not tell why the operation went wrong as his friend, Poku, had allegedly spoken with a soldier on the phone who assured them of safety.

The Lagos State NSCDC Commandant, Tajudeen Balogun, said the suspects would be charged to court after investigation, adding that the corps would continue to track down pipeline vandals sabotaging the country’s economy. 

He said, “About 2,500 litres of petrol was recovered from the suspects. Investigation is ongoing. We will charge them to court at the end of our investigation.”