The fight against illegal oil business in Cross River State has been
yielding positive results as the Joint Task Force of soldiers from the
13 Brigade of the Nigerian Army and Sector 3 Operation Pulo Shield has
arrested two serving police officers and 21 others for allegedly
engaging in bunkering along Marina Jetty in Calabar.
Besides, the team sealed off a petrol station and impounded about 375 drums of diesel at the jetty and at a filing station located along 74 Mayne Avenue, Calabar South. The PRO of the 13 Amphibious Brigade, Calabar, Capt. Joseph James, who confirmed this while briefing newsmen on their activities, said they raided the jetty at about 1.00am yesterday following an intelligence report and that some of the suspects with MRS uniform, a female and another pump attendant, were arrested discharging the product.
He said the suspects were being detained at the Brigade Headquarters and would be handed over to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) after rounds of interrogation. James said, “the team impounded 375 drums of diesel both at the jetty and at the filing station located at No. 74, Mayne Avenue, Calabar, three vehicles with registration numbers CR XA318 mini bus, CR XA836 DUK belonging to Crossline and AK XA 217 and three wooden boats used to convey the drums of oil from the Calabar waters to the Marina jetty and the seized drums would be burnt at Ikang in Bakassi where the JTF has a burning site.”
He said the alleged police officer, Sergeant Sunday Kamalu from Abia State was caught with a service pistol containing five rounds of ammunition but was on mufti when arrested while the second policeman, an inspector, escaped but his identity card showed that his name is Eyo Edet with service No.132524. According to him, both of them were serving at the Cross River State Police Command headquarters on Diamond Hill but that they were both at the MRS filing station on official guard duty.
The spokesman disclosed that the owner of the filing station where the alleged suspects delivered some of the drums of diesel to, Elder Edet Effiong, was presently facing interrogation at the Brigade Headquarters. Fielding questions from reporters, the army PRO said they could not rule out possible of high level connections but that they were presently carrying out widescale investigations and would not spare anyone no matter how highly placed they might be.
“We have no doubt that there is possibility of high level connections in the illegal bunkering activities in this state but we are conducting serious investigations to unravel and possibly arrest the possible sponsors behind this crime irrespective of his societal status. This crime has become widespread in this state and is seriously endangering the economy.
“We encourage members of the public not to be afraid to give us information irrespective of the threat because the JTF is fully ready to smash the bunkering syndicates in the state”, he said.l Speaking to newsmen also, the PRO of the police command in the state, John Umoh, said he had not yet received official report regarding the arrest of the policeman. In the last six months in the state, the military, in collaboration with the Operation Pulo Shield have consistently combed major hideouts, especially in Calabar South and arrested over 70 suspects and burnt thousands of drums of diesel.
Besides, the team sealed off a petrol station and impounded about 375 drums of diesel at the jetty and at a filing station located along 74 Mayne Avenue, Calabar South. The PRO of the 13 Amphibious Brigade, Calabar, Capt. Joseph James, who confirmed this while briefing newsmen on their activities, said they raided the jetty at about 1.00am yesterday following an intelligence report and that some of the suspects with MRS uniform, a female and another pump attendant, were arrested discharging the product.
He said the suspects were being detained at the Brigade Headquarters and would be handed over to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) after rounds of interrogation. James said, “the team impounded 375 drums of diesel both at the jetty and at the filing station located at No. 74, Mayne Avenue, Calabar, three vehicles with registration numbers CR XA318 mini bus, CR XA836 DUK belonging to Crossline and AK XA 217 and three wooden boats used to convey the drums of oil from the Calabar waters to the Marina jetty and the seized drums would be burnt at Ikang in Bakassi where the JTF has a burning site.”
He said the alleged police officer, Sergeant Sunday Kamalu from Abia State was caught with a service pistol containing five rounds of ammunition but was on mufti when arrested while the second policeman, an inspector, escaped but his identity card showed that his name is Eyo Edet with service No.132524. According to him, both of them were serving at the Cross River State Police Command headquarters on Diamond Hill but that they were both at the MRS filing station on official guard duty.
The spokesman disclosed that the owner of the filing station where the alleged suspects delivered some of the drums of diesel to, Elder Edet Effiong, was presently facing interrogation at the Brigade Headquarters. Fielding questions from reporters, the army PRO said they could not rule out possible of high level connections but that they were presently carrying out widescale investigations and would not spare anyone no matter how highly placed they might be.
“We have no doubt that there is possibility of high level connections in the illegal bunkering activities in this state but we are conducting serious investigations to unravel and possibly arrest the possible sponsors behind this crime irrespective of his societal status. This crime has become widespread in this state and is seriously endangering the economy.
“We encourage members of the public not to be afraid to give us information irrespective of the threat because the JTF is fully ready to smash the bunkering syndicates in the state”, he said.l Speaking to newsmen also, the PRO of the police command in the state, John Umoh, said he had not yet received official report regarding the arrest of the policeman. In the last six months in the state, the military, in collaboration with the Operation Pulo Shield have consistently combed major hideouts, especially in Calabar South and arrested over 70 suspects and burnt thousands of drums of diesel.
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