Operatives of the Ebonyi State Command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC have intercepted a truck said to be loaded with item suspected to be stolen petroleum products, arresting two persons linked to the illegal deal.
The suspects were reportedly in the process of discharging the Petroleum products into 3 JP surface tanks, before men of the NSCDC arrived.
The usual parking of the 45,000 liters truck at a residential area in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital had raised suspicions among residents who alerted the NSCDC monitoring team.
Parading the suspects, the Ebonyi State Commandant of the NSCDC, Francis Nnadi, says the command acted on timely intelligence and caught the suspects at the site of a densely populated residential area.
Nnandi who resumed office barely a fortnight ago is worried about the safety and risks associated with the alleged plot by the suspects to discharge the products into the 3 GP tanks found at the location.
The arrested driver of the truck, identified as Patrick Peter, and Jeremiah Okeh, who is said to be a Site Engineer at the location where the Petroleum product was to be dumped, claimed that they had no knowledge of the actual job they were contracted to execute.
Already, the NSCDC has sealed the site where the Petroleum product was to be supplied, and confiscated the GP tanks until the real owners of the properties identify themselves, and explain the circumstances of the suspected illegal and dangerous activities.
(Editor: Paul Akhagbemhe)
