Ilase: A Disaster Waiting To Happen
Ilase is a remote riverine village of about 5,000 people in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State, southwest Nigeria. This village is completely cut off from civilisation as there is no electricity. The main occupation of residents is fishing and farming.
Access to the village is difficult as one has to travel by water for about one hour to get there. This is why the presence of power is unthinkable in the village.
However, this village has become a gold mine for oil bunkerers who rake in millions of naira from the illegal business which had been going on for years. An oil pipeline runs through the village and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, does not seem to think of its safety or otherwise. Many of the villagers have thus dropped their fishing occupation and become bunkerers.
The big oil bunkering business began when the NNPC replaced the old pipeline with a new one. A police post was sited in the area to watch over the pipeline and prevent it from being vandalised by unscrupulous elements, but the police have formed an alliance with the bunkerers who grease their palms with fat sums of money to allow them continue the thriving business.
The bubble burst recently when the Lagos State Taskforce on Environment and related offences got a message about the illegal business and how the NNPC pipeline had been converted into a gold mine by the unscrupulous elements.
Last Tuesday, the taskforce men raided the village and arrested two people in connection with the business and discovered several 50 litres jerry cans of fuel. They promised to come back the following day; but on the next day, many of the villagers had deserted the village, including the traditional ruler, to avoid arrest.
Over 2,000 oil wells covering a land mass of 1,000 square metres had been dug by the bunkerers where they scoop fuel. The astonishing thing about it all was that the wells were under lock and keys by their owners. Through these wells, linked to the pipeline, large quantities of petroleum products are scooped for sale.
This business normally takes place at night and in the early hours of the day. The entire village is at risk of being consumed by an inferno, and a raging one at that if one of the wells catches fire. Danger looms in this village and neighbouring ones if fire should break out.
Taskforce Chairman, Bayo Sulaiman, led his men to raid the village and dislodge the vandals. Several make shift structures that serve as shelter for the criminals were all over the place, while several holes from which fuel is scooped littered the ground.
According to Sulaiman, the taskforce got wind of the situation following a Save Our Soul message by a concerned citizen who had observed the situation in the community for quite a while.
He said the taskforce acted on the information received and that upon investigation, it discovered that the situation required immediate attention in order to save lives and properties. “When we got the information, we invaded the area on Tuesday and arrested two suspects, and about 10 gallons of 50 litres kegs of fuel that were stored in the house of one of the arrested suspect were seized.â€
He gave the name of the two suspects as Lateef Rafiu and Mrs. Wenusi Barevil, adding that the others involved in the crime had fled the village before their arrival. He said the two suspects would be charged according to the law.
According to him, the command or the state government would write NNPC so that they would know what was happening in the area and the need to take precautionary measures to avert disaster.
One of the suspects, Barevil, denied involvement in the operation. She explained that she was only helping the people to store the fuel in her house for the day before the police came and arrested her. “On Tuesday, when I woke up, I saw over 30 jerry cans in my compound, I inquired who kept them there and my children told me that Mr. Senayon Kokulosu and his friend, Janet, dropped them yesterday. They started this bunkering when the NNPC change the old pipeline,†she added.
She denied that she was being money to help the bunkerers store the fuel in her house, adding that this was the second time she was helping them before the police arrested her.
The other suspect, Rafiu also denied involvement in the act, saying that his mission before his arrest was to buy fish for his sister who wanted to use it for her baby’s naming ceremony.
A teacher, who craved anonymity, told P.M.Metro that the illegal operation had been going on in the community for years, saying that the people involved work hand in hand with the police officials who allegedly assist them in the sale of the fuel.
“The police are aware and I see them parade here every day; so, they cannot claim that this is strange or new, this is God’s own village and we know that certainly, nothing will happen to us,†the teacher stated.
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