21st February, 2011
Driver of the oil tanker belonging to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mr. Adamu Usman arrested at the weekend for stuffing hundreds of rolls of cotton materials inside the tanker has confessed that he took N80,000 from some Igbo traders to convey the goods.
The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, had on Friday arrested the NNPC tanker at Fadeyi area of Lagos State and discovered that it was stuffed with cotton materials instead of fuel.
“We decided to load cotton materials inside the tanker because we had no consignment to carry. They stopped us on the way and asked us to help them carry the consignment to Oshodi in Lagos State from Kano,” Adamu said, adding that “the goods are owned by different people.
The NNPC oil tanker, with the registration number Jigawa XA 999-MGR had successfully beaten police checkpoints on the way from Kano to Lagos State before it was arrested.
The police did not extort money from the tanker driver because they thought he was conveying fuel and moreover, the tanker belongs to the NNPC.
One of the tanker’s escorts, Mr. Abdullahi Bala agreed that it was criminal to stuff fabrics inside an oil tanker, saying that if the owners were to convey the cotton materials through trailers, it would be more expensive.
Public Relations Officer, NSCDC, Lagos Command, Mrs. Folashade Vera-Cruz said six people had been arrested and the owners of the goods would have to come to the command to defend themselves. She added that the corps would investigate and punish the culprits appropriately.
The oil tanker has been detained at the NSCDC Lagos headquarters, Alausa, Ikeja and investigation continues
—Kazeem Ugbodaga