… IPMAN says ‘We have enough petrol on ground’***

Troops of “Operation Delta Safe’’ discovered and destroyed 23 illegal refining sites and apprehended 42 suspected oil thieves in the Niger Delta in the last fortnight.

Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Musa Danmadami made this known on Thursday in Abuja at the bi-weekly news briefing on the operations of the armed forces.

“Troops also conducted patrols and buggy operations in the zone during which several illegal refineries, storage tanks, wooden boats, coking ovens, and dug-out pits were destroyed.

“Cumulatively, within the two weeks in review, troops discovered and destroyed 23 illegal refining sites, 87 wooden boats, seven-speed boats, 284 storage tanks, 160 coking ovens, three fibre boats and 18 dugout pits.

“Troops also recovered 2.5 litres of crude oil, 133,824 litres of diesel and 7,000 litres of kerosene.

“Also recovered were 16 tankers, one vessel, eight pumping machines, and two motorcycles.

“Forty-two criminals were arrested during the operations.

“All recovered items and apprehended criminals were handed over to the appropriate authorities for further action,’’ Danmadami said.

He said that troops continued to sustain aggressive patrols to curb crude oil theft and illegal bunkering within the Nigerian maritime environment to ensure the economic prosperity of the country.

He said troops also nabbed three suspected oil thieves who were tracked and monitored to the Adige, Urhiakpa and Mission Road in the Sapele Local Government Area of Delta on Oct. 6.

It was during the execution of “Operation Octopus Grip’’, he said.

He added that troops also impounded a vessel, MT DEIMA, with the capacity to hold 1500 tonnes of crude oil for illegal bunkering at the Sara area of Escravos Channel on Oct. 7.

The troops arrested the vessel’s eight crew members.

Danmadami said the vessel had six tank compartments loaded with an unspecified quantity of crude oil

He said also that troops and other security agencies had not relented in efforts in the fight against criminal elements in the Southeast zone.

He added that troops of Operation AWATSE and operatives of the NDLEA and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps destroyed 15 hectares of Indian hemp at Mabu village in Ogun on Oct. 7.

He added that troops also recovered 258 bags of 50kg smuggled rice, 220 jerry cans of 30 litres of petrol and four vehicles, just as they arrested two criminals and rescued two civilians, also in the Southwest.

“All recovered items, apprehended criminals and rescued civilians were handed over to the appropriate authorities for further action,’’ Danmadami said.

In the meantime, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), on Thursday said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC)/Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) have enough petrol on ground.

IPMAN said there are over 20 vessels of ships fully loaded with petrol on ground waiting to be discharged in Lagos.

IPMAN’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Alhaji Suleiman Yakubu, stated this in a telephone interview with the newsmen in Abuja while reacting to the current fuel scarcity and long queues of vehicles at filling stations in Abuja.

Yakubu said that the cause of the scarcity was a flood which affected the Lokoja bridge thereby hindering trucks from passing to their various destinations.

He said that the fuel scarcity was not an intentional act but was caused by a natural disaster, adding that the government is doing all it can to solve the problem.

“The flood has reduced now and the trucks are gradually passing, we need to be patient till it normalises which usually takes a few days.

Newsmen report that some retail outlets around Maitama, Wuse, Gwarimpa, Wuye and Kubwa Expressway were selling fuel with long queues of vehicles.

A motorist, Mr Eze Aku, who spoke to newsmen, said that black marketers are now selling at N350 per litre.

“The government should try and arrest those black marketers, they are part of the reasons why the scarcity will continue for their selfish reasons,” Aku said.

Another motorist, Adelabu Ige, urged the relevant authority to compel fuel stations with the product to sell with all their pumping machine nozzles.

“It is unfortunate that some of the fuel stations that have fuel will decide to be selling with just two or few nozzles anytime there is fuel scarcity.

“This is part of the reasons we have long queues in most fueling stations, making motorists to spend hours on queue just to buy fuel.

“This is unjust and unfair to fellow Nigerians who are already overstretched by the current economic situation,” Ige said.