by Eugene Agha

18-03-05

The mourning period entered into by Lagos' riverine communities in the aftermath of tragic explosions induced by pipeline vandalisation seemed to be over. The communities are bristling with nocturnal activities again as pipeline vandals are staging a gradual comeback.
We provide you with an insight into the return of the bunkerers and a peep into their world.

In the remote backwater of Lagos' riverine communities and their adjoining areas, routine vandalisation of oil pipelines and illegal bunkering are not uncommon. Also in existence is a thriving covert trade that provides a medium for the sale of stolen oil products. But when residents of FESTAC and Satellite towns in Amuwo Odofin and Oriade Local Government Areas of Lagos State recently secured the services of some members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) as security guards little did they know that they were about providing a haven for illegal oil bunkerers.
The intention of the residents was to check the risingincidents of armed robberies in their respective areas. However, no sooner had the night guards resumed duties than they began to make forays into the outlying riverine districts to vandalise oil pipelines and trade in stolen oil products.

In times past, illegal bunkering is a business the majority of people living in these riverine areas participated in with glee. However, the huge number of lives that were lost during the series of vandalised pipeline explosions that rocked the areas last year made the people of the area to give the trade a wide berth.
While the residents stayed away from the trade the night guards, as soon as they resumed duties, took their place. Worried at the activities of the guards, residents and landlords in Ijegun, one of the affected communities, recently, called a neighbourhood meeting where the activities of the guards were deliberated upon.
At the meeting, a landlord confronted some of the night guards and accused them of being involved in illegal bunkering. But to the surprise of the gathering the OPC guards did not deny or confirm the allegation. Rather, they said they would resist any attempt aimed at tarnishing their image or any action taken to “marginalize” them on any part of “Oodua” soil.

Presently, the stance taken by the guards is said to be a source of disquiet in the community. And it is perhaps the reason why a resident of the area who claimed to be conversant with the operations of the illegal bunkerers provided insights into the operations of the guards.
"This attitude forced a member of the group to make an open confession about the activities of the guards. The man alleged that most of the guards were neck deep in illegal bunkering and some of them have boys who make returns to them on a daily basis," a source said. The source said the operations of illegal bunkerers are structured into three phases.

The first phase of the operation, according to the source, begins with the search for underground Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) petroleum pipelines in the murky waters of the area. These pipelines, he said run through Imore, Ilado, Ijegun and other riverine communities convey petroleum products to Ejigbo and Mosemi depots. Once an underground pipe has been traced, the illegal bunkerers then proceeded to burrow into it with the aid of a drilling machine.
He said that the burrowing is always done with the connivance of some criminally minded NNPC officials who feed the bunkerers with daily charts of products to be pumped. This he claimed was done to avoid outbreaks of fire as a result of the illegal drilling.

The actual drilling was done at night in order not to attract hostile attention. In the event, where the presence of the illegal bunkerers becomes noticeable, the source stated that some members of the group, who are usually clad either in police or Navy uniforms would claim that they were sent on patrol of the area.
“Usually, this part of the operation is the most difficult part as they also need the cooperation of officials of both NNPC and policemen attached to the Marine Police. The reason why an NNPC official are needed in the chain of operation is simple, the NNPC official provides the operators with useful information on when, how, what time and what quantity of petroleum products are to be pumped to Mosemi and Ejigbo depots, in Ogun and Lagos state," the source added.

Once a possible site has been secured, the gang would then enter the next phase. During this phase the gang use several thousands of 50 litre jerry cans and a sizable quantity of marine rope that could be stretched from one side of the lagoon to the other. The rope, which is tied to a canoe, during the last stage, the source said, is used to dragging the cargo across the lagoon into Satellite Town for onward transfer to the numerous selling points scattered around Lagos and its adjoining states.
Once this has been done, the illegal bunkerers would then agree on a particular time when the actual scooping could commence.

The bunkerers who goes about as night guards during the day would then go across the river with the aid of canoe, dragging one end of the marine rope along with then. According to the source, the time for the scooping of fuel, according to an inside source, is between 1.00 a.m. and 4.00 a.m., depending on the quantity of the product that was to be siphoned and the number of 50 litre jerry cans available at the time of the operations.
Once this had been achieved, a telephone call, the source said, will be made to the conniving NNPC personnel on the type of products expected to be pumped to the depots.

Again the source claimed that the vandals also request to know the type of products to be pumped was because of the varying prices of petroleum products in the market. Once the bunkerers receive the information, which would reveal the types of products to be pumped, the quantity of the product and when it will be pumped from the NNPC officials, the bunkerers would then divide themselves into two groups.
One of the groupwould be stationed in the upland while the other group would be charged with the responsibility of scooping fuel into jerry cans. This, the source said, is usually rotated among two parties in the same group. This is to avoid a situation where all members of the gang are caught in an outbreak of fire caused by an explosion during the scooping of oil.

The final phase of the operation would then follows immediately after they have succeeded in filling the entire 50 litre jerry cans with petrol. One after the other the bunkerers would tie the jerry cans containing the fuel to the marine rope and then lower it into the water. The gang, according to the source would then go across the lagoon in their canoes, dragging along the entire jerry cans across.
Once they have sailed across the lagoon, members of the other group proceed to execute their own part of the assignment by pulling the entire jerry cans across the lagoon without attracting any attention. The source also revealed that the business itself is low cost in nature as the illegal only machine needed for the operation, was a pumping machine.

To prevent an explosion from occurring during the pumping of fuel, the source stated that a member of the gang is assigned to pour water on the pumping machine intermittently to avoid it getting heated up. Bunkerers, usually, go to a great length to guard against explosions during their operation.
"As for safety rules, the bunkerers are not allowed to go for any operation wearing any metal object" he said.

Recently, when some suspected bunkerers were arrested during a police operation several quantities of 50 litre jerry cans and canoes were recovered from them. The Chairman of Oriade Local Government, of Lagos State, Prince Adio Sekoni alleged that Security Personnel and NNPC officials are involved in the illegal trade. According to him, those involved in the illegal activities do so under the watchful eyes of security operatives charged with the duty of securing the pipeline.
"It is not our responsibility to police the area since we do not have the required man power to do so. But I say without mincing word that security operatives in the area are also involved in the deal," he said.

Sekoni who seemed to be disturbed about the danger involved in illegal bunkering said he has written several letters to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Israel Ajao, in which he complained of the recent upsurge of illegal bunkering in the area. He said none of his letters were replied. The council boss said the roasting to death of some Customs officers in the last pipeline explosion in the area was a clear indication that they were also involved in the business.
"Illegal bunkering has been traced to NNPC, Navy and the police.”

Source: This Day