Vandals abandon 3,600 litres of petrol in polythene bags

The Lagos State Police Command has intercepted 3, 600 litres of petrol, after it was abandoned by suspected pipeline vandals in the state.

The interception was made in the Aquatira area, 1st Avenue by 12 Road, in the FESTAC area of the state, with the suspects escaping in a canoe when the police arrived the scene.

According to a police source, the suspected vandals packaged the fuel in polythene bags, with each bag reportedly taking up to 150 litres.

The source further said the vandals used to load the product in a tanker, but later changed their technique so as to evade the vigilance of the police.

Read Also : Buhari vows to deal with pipeline vandals like Boko

“They are pipeline vandals. There is a pipe that passed through a canal at FESTAC, buried deep in the waters. The vandals go down inside the canal, loosen the pipe, connect a hose to it and pump the fuel into a tanker. But we have been monitoring them and we always arrest the tankers.

“Because we have become used to their system, they devised another method. They get big polythene bags that can take as much as 150 litres of fuel. They load the bags with 100 litres of fuel so that they will not burst. After loading them with fuel, they put them into sacks and tie the sacks together. They put the sacks on the canal, but they are three-quarter buried inside the water and will not be visible to the eye,” he said.

According to the police source, when their boat comes, they hook the sacks and take them to wherever they need them.

“But on the day of the incident, we intercepted them and immediately they saw us in our vehicle, they fled in their boat. We called the Marine Police to help us bring out the fuel.”

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