Forward Operations Base (FOB) of the Nigerian Navy has arrested four oil thieves suspected to be staff of a security company saddled with the responsibility of protecting pipeline, for attempted oil theft on the waterways near Itolu Community, Lekki-Lagos.
It was learnt that men of the force had responded to a distress call, in the early hours of 29th August 2023, when the local youths reported gunshots in the vicinity of the community.
The arrested suspects were identified as Asonja Godday, 28, Obajimi Oluwaseyifunmi, 38, Awoowo Aribo, 35, and Oluwadaisi Balogun, 40, who all hailed from Igbokoda in Ondo State.
Based on information, naval patrol teams immediately launched a response operation, arriving at the scene and met four individuals dressed in Black Polo Shirts with TANTITA inscribed on the back, trying to recover a dismantled outboard engine from a local.
The team recovered the engine and apprehended the four Tantita Employees.
The owner of the boat used for the illegal operation they were trying to forcibly employ, Ishola Ojubuyi, 42, was also taken into custody.
It was after this arrest that the Patrol Team realized that the suspects were part of a movement of a large wooden boat with two fiber boats.
The four arrested persons beckoned on the two fiber boats to approach them but when they noticed NN patrol teams, the boats altered their course and fled away and abandoned the large wooden boat laden with 11 x 1000L Geepee tanks with product suspected to be stolen crude oil.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Navy has initiated an investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident, particularly the possession of firearms used in the community, economic sabotage, how the product came from Ondo State to Lagos State as well as attempting to steal a boat engine from the locals.
Mr. Owoyele Omotuyi who was identified as a Tantita staff, came to secure the release of the four apprehended, claiming they were Tantita employees.
All suspects along with the confiscated exhibits, will be handed over to appropriate agencies for further necessary action and prosecution.
The Nigerian Navy under the watch of Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, remains resolute towards ensuring the maritime environment is conducive for legitimate businesses necessary for the economic prosperity of the nation.
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