Shocking !!! Police discover 40 feet well stored with petroleum products in Lagos
By Victor Jacob
Friday, July 30, 2010


Residents of Lagos were last week shocked when photographs of a 30/40 feet well stored with petroleum products were beamed on their televison screens. In fact, more shocking was the fact that the well was originally dug for purposes of supplying water to a wood producing factory only for it to be cleverly converted into fuel dump.

[img]http://odili.net/news/source/2010/jul/30/vanguard/images/Oilwell[1].jpg[/img]
The substance, suspected petroleum product



[img]http://odili.net/news/source/2010/jul/30/vanguard/images/Oilwell1[1].jpg[/img]

The well



http://odili.net/news/source/2010/jul/30/322.html

Unfortunately for alleged perpetrators of the act, a team of Policemen from Idimu area of the state, led personally by the Divisional Police Officer, Chief Superintendent of Police, Ambrose Agbedo, stormed the illegal fuel dump last Thursday, and arrested them.

Acting on a tip off, the team of Policemen raided the premises of a factory owned by one Chuks Okonkwo and discovered the well, measuring about 30-40feet below the ground which is being supplied with petroleum products from a raptured pipeline of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.(NNPC).

The principal suspect, Chucks Okonkwo (48)owner of the factory claimed that the well was dug for the purpose of supplying water to the factory in production of wood finishing paints.

According to him, when he noticed that fuel was flowing into the well about two months ago, he locked the well and thereafter informed NNPC officials carrying out maintenance repairs on some damaged pipes within that area. He, however suggested that the leakage could be as a result of a burst pipe of the NNPC that has been long due for replacement.

However, the Police claimed that their preliminary investigation of the well revealed that there is an underground pipe connected from the factory to the NNPC main transport pipe. Police sources said other suspects arrested together with Okonkwo were; Mohammed Cobna, Abdulrahman Yabren, Ishiaku Lamba, Dauda Dambri, all from BurkinaFaso and two Nigerians, Ifeanyi Izunwanne and Grace Chukwuemeka.

The source said all the suspected persons were workers in the factory as at the time of arrest and they denied having knowledge of fuel in the well even though, the well was conspicuously located at a corner in the factory premises.

Grace Chukwuemeka, the only female suspect told Crime Alert that she was employed barely two months now and that her job was to place labels on the company’s products. The DPO of Idimu Police Division, CSP Ambrose Agbedo and Lagos State Police command spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba (SP) led a team of journalists to the site where they personally drew buckets of fuel from the well, confirming allegations that it was refined petroleum product.

The PPRO described the act as the “height of creativity in the criminal world which poses a great threat to the environment in particular and, national security in general.”