An expanse of land hidden at Roberts Island, a village off Lagos waters near Atlas Cove, where pipelines breaching and stealing of petroleum products take place unchecked has been uncovered and destroyed.
The hidden bunkering rendezvous was discovered by operatives led by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachiukwu.
A search around the place showed equipment used by the oil bunkers to perforate oil pipelines and then store the products in plastic kegs before being taken to sales points.
The kegs and the tools used for pipelines destruction were all found buried in the ground.
Dr Kachikwu could not hide his disappointment that people living in the community who witness such dangerous and illegal activities could not inform relevant authorities for prompt action. According to him, it appeared that the villagers were accomplice in the bunkering business.
“I must say that I was very disillusioned to find this discovery but much as I was happy that it was found, it just took a lot of wind off my sail in the sense of what next and who knows how many more have not been discovered?”
Kachikwu expressed the need for Nigerians to play their part in arresting and tackling crimes in the society. “At the end of the day, the responsibility for protecting the assets of Nigerians must lie in the hands of Nigerians. There is no magic that I have that I am going to be able to deliver zero incident environment, given the number of attacks we are getting everywhere but at the end of the day, communities like these ones must begin to rise up and say this is just not right,“ he stressed.
By Olisemeka Obeche