NSCDC seizes 150 drums of illegal petrol in Akwa Ibom

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Akwa Ibom State Command said it has impounded 150 drums of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) meant to be smuggled out of Nigeria to Cameroon.

NSCDC state Commandant, Mr Yusuf Imam, who disclosed this in a press briefing on Saturday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, noted that two suspects were arrested during the operation.

Imam explained that the arrest was made on March 9, following the intelligence to Marine Unit of the command which acted swiftly and intercepted the hoodlums on the high sea while conveying the products in a wooden boat to Cameroon.

He added that the operatives also seized five engines and one pumping machine used in the smuggling of the petroleum products.

“The Marine Unit of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Akwa Ibom State Command has arrested two suspects and impounded 150 drums of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) conveyed in a large wooden boat on the high sea in Ibeno LGA of Akwa Ibom State.

“Acting on credible intelligence, the NSCDC Marine Squad led by Jamilu Mohammed Adamu hit the waterways with the corps’ gunboat, chased and intercepted the boat very close to the Atlantic Ocean while attempting to smuggle petrol into Cameroon,” Imam said.

The commandant, however, warned that the corps would not tolerate any criminality in its waterways, stressing that all economic sabotage and vandalism in the state would be met with the full weight of the law.

He said the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigations are completed.