Police found 12 illegal oil wells in Lagos community

The Lagos State Police Command yesterday smashed a pipeline vandalism syndicate at the Ilasa, a suburb in the state.
The command also arrested 12 suspects who were scooping petroleum products from wells in residential houses
.
The syndicate, who are residents of the densely populated suburb, were exposed by the eagle eye of the Divisional Police Officer of Ilasa, Oriyomi Oluwasanni, a Superintendent of Police, who acting on intelligence swooped on them.
It was gathered that the DPO had gone undercover, pretending to be a buyer of the ill gotten petroleum products, had lured them before she and her men arrested them.
A visit to Abeokuta Close, off Ibadan Street, Ilasa, revealed that virtually all residential apartments on the street had water-wells turned into oil wells, from which they scooped petroleum products.
Saturday Sun revealed that the suspects had connected water pumps into the wells, from which they siphon the products, suspected to be diesel, into an overhead tank.
From the overhead tanks, the suspects then run it into jerry cans and then sell them off to the buyers under the cover of darkness.
One of the landladies, who was arrested by the police, Mrs. Moji Adeshina, of No 10 Abeokuta Street, was said to have  given quit notice to her   tenants to afford her the privacy to run her illicit business.
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Fatai Owoseni, who was on the spot said the residents have been advised to relocate because of the danger the oil wells portend.
Owoseni went for an on-the-spot assessment of the area in the company with Oluwasanni; Area ‘D’ Commander, ACP Gyadiayadi Salisu; Rapid Response Squad (RRS) Commander, ACP Olatunji Disu; the state Police Public Relations Officer,  Dolapo Badmos and the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Michael  Akindele.
In an interview with journalists afterwards he said, “The Ilasa DPO had gathered intelligence that some houses had diesel where the landlord’s and landladies do illegal oil business.
“The landlady of one of the houses on Abeokuta Street was also selling the vandalised products. She pursued all her tenants out and have been doing the business illegally.
“They are all aware and she is one of the landladies that lives there and connected pipes to the wells with a pumping machine.
“Some of the tenants have denied culpability. How can they live here in the midst of oil and keep quiet. This is a disaster. If this catches fire, it will be disastrous because the area is densely populated.
“After now, the Lagos State Government will make an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to decide what to do with the diesel found in these wells.
“Already, the personnel of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) are at the wells to collect sample and test the quality of the diesel.
“As investigation progresses, we will track the buyers of the products and also arrest them. Already, we are getting information from the suspects arrested.”
One of the landladies, Mrs. Moji Adesina said, “It’s true that they found diesel in my well but I never sold it. I noticed it three weeks ago and I haven’t touched it.”
When she was asked why she didn’t report to the police and why she sent out her tenants she said, “The house belongs to her late husband and was transferred to me after his death. It was a well we use for water but later diesel started coming out of it. “
Another suspect, one Tajudeen Bamiloye, 11 Abeokuta Street, said, “I came on my own to report the well to the police. I am the landlord of one of the houses in question.
“My tenants called me about the well. When I got there and saw the diesel inside the wall, I moved straight to report to the police. I am not an oil vandal.”
The other suspects, Mrs. Tayo Agboola, and Chinyere Nnadi, a landlady and tenant respectively, denied culpability, adding that they stayed off the well the moment they noticed the diesel in the house.

Sun News