A man presumably in his 40's named Innocent Nwevo was nabbed by the officials of the Ojodu Local Council Development in Lagos with 47 kegs of petrol following a tip off by observant individuals.
The executive secretary of the council, Mallam Ahmed Jaji, said a combined team of members of the Caretaker Committee and men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, attached to the LCDA, arrested the culprit.
Jaji said the team acted on a tip off that a tenant in a shop, opposite the Sunday Retail Market, Ogba, was stockpiling and engaging in illegal sale of petroleum product in the area. He added that being a resident of the area, he mobilised his team for an on-the-spot assessment of the place.
The culprit, Innocent Nwevo
Jaji said that the culprit concealed the several kegs of petrol behind foodstuff and other commodities to prevent them from being noticed easily. He also expressed his relief over the arrest of the culprit stating that it could have been tragic if anything could have ignited a fire incident caused by the illegal storage of petrol.
“We thank God that an action that could put our lives and property in jeopardy was averted today. Who knows what could have happened if this bunkerer was not apprehended or imagine, a keg, out of the several kegs burst into flame? The whole environment and this area would have been in crisis.
“Thank God, we were able to avert this. However, having succeeded in nailing the culprit, our next line of action is to hand him over to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for further necessary action. Though, I have at the same time intimated the relevant government agencies, especially the Lagos State Government, about the discovery” , Jaji said.
Nwevo, who claimed to be a food vendor however admitted that he knew that the business was illegal. He attributed his crime to a run of bad times in business as he used to own about six shops which he used for legal business. According to him, his business crashed due to the embezzlement of his funds by his workers. He was then introduced to the petrol business by his friend named Mr. John who lives in the Mowe area of Ogun state. The fuel was bought from Mowe. He sells 50 litres for N5,000.
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