The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has apprehended five suspected oil bunkerers and impounded four vehicles in Imo State.
About 30,000 litres of Automotive Gas Oil were also recovered from the suspects.
Commandant of the NSCDC in Imo, Matthew Ovye, disclosed this while parading the suspects in Owerri, on Tuesday, Dec. 12.
Ovye said four suspects were arrested and their vehicles were seized during an operation conducted by the Special Intelligence Squad of the corps’ Commandant-General, Ahmed Audi, on December 8, following a tip-off.
He added that one more suspect and a vehicle were further arrested by the anti-vandal team of the NSCDC in Imo at 4:00 AM on Monday, December 11.
The suspects were arrested at the Abacheke and Agwa communities of the Ohaji-Egbema and Oguta Local Government Areas of the state respectively, he said.
One of the suspects, Mr Kingsley Ngwoli of the Ohaji-Egbema LGA, said he bought the petroleum product along Abacheke Road, Oguta, without knowing that it was the product of illegal bunkering.
The commandant further said the command has largely decimated the activities of vandals in the state and would not rest on its oars until they are reduced to the barest minimum.
“In the past, they used to move with trucks but now they use salon cars and smaller vehicles, meaning that we have really decimated them and they are now in hiding.
“With the C-G’s combined team and holistic synergy with sister agencies, we’ll nip this in the bud”, he said.
He added that the suspects will be prosecuted after investigations.
He called on Imo residents to report suspected crimes to security agencies to enable them protect the lives and property of Nigerians.