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Oil - Task Force Foils Niger Oil Theft Scheme(AllAfrica Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) THE Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta said it had foiled an oil theft incident in Ukwa-West Local Government Area of Abia State. This is contained in a statement Lt-Col. Mustapha Anka, Media Coordinator of the Task Force, issued in Yenagoa. He said two trucks siphoning Automated Gas Oil (AGO) at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline which runs through Imo-Uzoakpo community, in the area were seized during the raid. Anka said suspects abandoned the trucks on sighting the troops of the task force. The JTF spokesman added that the operation followed information from members of the community alerting the task force that suspected oil thieves had been operating in the area since January this year. "The oil thieves operate during the night and leave the area and the environment polluted with petroleum products," said Anka. The two trucks with illegal oil bunkering equipment were moved to a safer place and destroyed in line with JTF's mandate, he added. "The destruction is also in line with zero-tolerance campaign on oil theft and illegal oil bunkering by the Commander of JTF, Major-General Emmanuel Atewe," the statement stated. Anka said representatives of Ukwa-West Local Government, the Manager Aba Depot of the Petroleum Pipeline Marketing Company and Abia Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps witnessed the destruction. Copyright CAJ News Agency. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). |