Nine suspects have been arrested and paraded over the illegal act of oil theft by troops of the Operation Pulo Shield in Delta State.
The suspects were paraded on Thursday by the OPS, accused of siphoning crude oil products from an oil pipeline belonging to Midwestern Oil Company based in Ughelli and loading same into their waiting trucks.
The Operation Pulo Shield is the restructured Joint Task Force saddled with the responsibility of preventing oil theft in the nine states of the Niger Delta and has its headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
The suspects were identified as Vincent Okafor, Garba Aliu, Michael Osuji, Uche Oriekofe, and Victor Andrew.
Others are Lucky Ogwugwhuo, Chinedu Nwanegbo, Julius Okeh and Tari Jonathan.
Briefing journalists at the parading of the suspects, Coordinator of the Joint Media Campaign Centre, Lt. Col. Isa Ado, who spoke on behalf of the Commander of the OPS, Maj. Gen. Alani Okunlola, said the suspects were arrested on “credible intelligence gathering by troops on patrol of Ozoro/Owelogbo in Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta.
He said: “I want to reassure members of the public of the command’s renewed vigour and determination in the war against crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism and other criminal activities in oil-producing areas of Nigeria.
“The OPS has zero tolerance for oil theft and related offences. Our mandate is a continuous one aimed at eradicating illegal oil bunkering, sabotage of oil and gas installations in the creeks and waterways, among others.”
Confessing to the crime, the ring leader, Lucky Ogwugwhuo, said he went into the crime to enable him to raise money to cure himself of an undisclosed ailment.
“I was pushed into the crime because of ill health,” he lamented.
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