Lagos Task Force dislodges oil bunkers, destroys 4,500 kegs of diesel

Operatives of the Lagos State Task Force on Environment has dislodged oil (diesel) bunkers and wasted 4,500 kegs (2m litres) of mixed diesel around Coker in Orile area of the state.

Spokesperson of the agency, Mr Taofiq Adebayo, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen,adding that the operation was carried out based on the directive of the chairman of the Task Force, S.P.Egbeyemi, following series of petitions from members of the public.

This was just as he disclosed that the agency, during the third quarter of this year, between July and  September, impounded 3,480 motorcycles for plying restricted routes across the state, while a total of 5,890 miscreants and hoodlums were arrested, out of which 1,500 were screened, with the remaining 4,390 prosecuted.

According to Adebayo, 25 containers of 5,000 litres each of mixed diesel, which was more than 4,500 kegs of mixed diesel, were destroyed by the agency in an operation led by Egbeyemi’s Second in Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Wilson Alaba.

Adebayo said various petitions from members of the public to the Task Force had indicated that due to the increase in the cost of a litre of diesel, some people were buying tankers of the product and mixing it with kerosene around Orile area of the state.

He pointed out that residents of the area equally disclosed that those hoodlums had been operating around the area for over seven years now.

A tricycle operator in the area, Mr Salami Ogunsanya, who spoke on the development, alleged that those engaged in the illegal business had been buying original 33,000 litres of diesel everyday and mixing it with kerosene to double the tanker’s capacity to 66,000 litres.

He also alleged that once it was night, miscreants and hoodlums who engaged in this illegal business, robbed innocent members of the public of their valuables.

Ogunsanya and other residents of the area expressed happiness and thanked the Task Force for their prompt interventions, even as they, however, commended the Lagos State governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, for his efforts at guaranteeing enough security for lives and properties of the citizenry.