Police arrest four suspects over ‘crude oil theft, recover ’40k litres of petrol’ in Rivers

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) says its operatives have arrested four suspects over alleged crude oil theft in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital.

The suspects are Emmanuel Nwachi, Adamu Bala, Nura Musa, and Bashir Abubakar.

In a statement on Friday, Muyiwa Adejobi, force spokesperson, said the suspects were arrested by the operatives of the IGP special task force on petroleum and illegal bunkering (IGP-STFPIB).

Adejobi said the operatives discovered a storage facility used for “dealing and processing illegally acquired crude oil” in Trans Amadi, Port Harcourt.

“This operation had led to the arrest of four (4) suspects, namely, Emmanuel Nwachi ‘m’ 58 years; Adamu Bala ‘m’ 35years; Nura Musa ‘m’ 22 years; Bashir Abubakar ‘m’ 28 years, and the recovery of 40,000 litres of petroleum products, stored in 67 white storage tanks,” the statement reads.

“The team, however, destroyed the site and recovered the equipment and machines used in committing these crimes.

“The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, PhD, NPM., has reemphasized the commitment of the Force to tackling every form of crime, criminality, and corruption, extending to those involved in this economic sabotage.”

Over the past few years, the federal government and stakeholders in the petroleum industry have been finding ways to checkmate crude oil theft in the country.

In July 2024, George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), said over $1.5 billion has been spent on protecting oil infrastructure and addressing crude oil theft since 2020.