By Evelyn Usman

Policemen attached to the Inspector-General of Police Special Task Force on Anti-Pipeline Vandalism Unit, Force Headquarters Annex, Lagos, have arrested six suspected vandals in connection with last month’s attack on officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, at Arepo village, Ogun State, which led to the death of three NNPC staff.

Since the attack during which the NNPC pipeline was set on fire, the bodies of the slain NNPC have not been recovered.

But one of the arrested suspects, Imerepamu Ijebu Joel, according to the Unit’s boss, Mr Friday Ibadin, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, confessed during interrogation to know where the remains of the NNPC staff were buried.

Detectives, he explained, had been o n the trail of the suspected perpetrators of the dastardly act i n which  other NNPC officials who managed to escape reportedly sustained varying degrees of injuries.

Acting on a  tip off, Ibadin said a team of policemen, led by the Lagos sector commander, Onaghise Osayande, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, stormed the Arepo NNPC pipeline where some vandals were caught at the verge of syphoning petroleum products  from the pipeline they broke.

A total of two hundred gallons of 25 litres filled with product suspected to be petrol and several empty gallons, he said, were recovered,with the suspects arrested in their attempt to escape.

“ In the course of investigation, they revealed that they knew what happened to the NNPC officials last month. One of them, Imerepamu Ijebu Joel, said he knew the area where the dead NNPC officials were buried”, Ibadin stated.

However, Ijebu, as the suspect is popularly called, said he did not take part in the killing of the NNPC staff but stated that one of his alleged partner in crime whose identity he gave as Showebune told him the slain NNPC staff were buried in a land across the creeks at Arepo.

The suspect narrated: “I don’t know the exact spot where the  NNPC officials were buried but my friend  Showebune told me that they killed the NNPC officials and  buried  them in a land across the river. I know the land where they were buried but I don’t know the exact spot.

“Shortly after the incident, my landlord told me to be careful that my Ijaw brothers have caused trouble in the area by killing the NNPC officials who came for maintenance.  He confirmed that the NNPC staff were killed by Tokuwa, Egbe, Egbekowhea, John Togo and Bashiru who buys petroleum products from vandals. I know their houses and I can take the police there if they are willing”.

Suspects had, last month, set the NNPC pipeline at Arepo village on fire which raged for four days before it was put out by the joint effort of  fire service men, policemen from Ogun State Command and other security operatives.

The arrested suspects were identified as Posibi Ruben, Imerepmamu Ijebu Joel, John Aye Isaiah, Saheed Onisa Mudashiru, Ineye Okpose and Timi Gnungunu.