The Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) Cross River State command has confiscated 16,000 liters of stolen petroleum products.
Samuel Fadeyi, the Commandant of NSCDC said the stolen products which were mainly Automotive Gas Oil, (AGO) popularly known as diesel were stored in drums and gallons and hidden in different trailer parks in the state.
Fadeyi said this while addressing newsmen on Monday, August 22, 2022, in Calabar during an inspection of the impounded petroleum products.
He said the products were confiscated following a directive from the Commandant-General of NSCDC that some suspicious activities were going on in some parks.
The commandant said they went around trailer parks in Cross River and discovered that hawkers indeed had a lot of petroleum products stored in drums and hidden.
According to him, the storage of petroleum products was a highly regulated field and required a license for anyone to go into it because of the danger it can pose to society if not properly handled.
“Within the last two weeks, we have impounded about 16,000 liters of AGO from different spots in the state.
“Some of the places we went to, we met a lot of hostilities, so we made sure that we destroy the capacity of the perpetrators from continuing in the business and quickly exit the area to avoid human casualties.
“Some of these hawkers work like cartels, once they see security officials they attack and escape but we make sure we impound the products,” he said.
Speaking further, Fadeyi said he had reached out to the leadership of the parks and their unions for a meeting as the activities of the hawkers harmed their integrity.
According to him, raiding the parks is not a witch-hunt but to send a strong message because of the negative impact of the activities of the hawkers on the nation’s economy and environment.
He commended the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) victory and Sector 4, Operation Delta Safe, for partnering with the corps by impounding and apprehending smugglers of petroleum products from Nigeria to Cameroon.