By Samuel Ebegbulem
BENIN CITY — THE Edo State Task Force Committee on Anti-Pipeline Vandalisation, has arrested eight tankers involved in alleged illegal bunkering, just as it warned community leaders to desist from conniving with those involved in the illegal business to avoid arrest.

The chairman of the committee, Mr. Osakpanwa Eriyo, who disclosed this to Vanguard in Benin City, yesterday, said the arrest was made in Orhionmwon Local Government Area and  parts of Edo North.

According to him, “it is like a cartel and that is why the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has not been loading fuel from Benin depot for over four years due the activities of these vandals. But we have decided to confront them head on.

We discovered that what they do is that after vandalising the pipelines, they will insert their valves and pumping fuel into their tanks. Before you know it, they would have loaded about five tankers and after that,  they will cover that particular place with sacks loaded with sand, so that it will not be noticed.

“But we have discovered many of such holes, while  they are opening more. These tankers we arrested, the drivers abandoned them when we were pursuing them and  we were able to impound the tankers and those  we arrested have been handed over to the police.

“Some times, we exchange gun fire with these people who are heartless, but because we are determined to sanitise things in the state, we will not relent until we stop the business in the state,” he said.

Warning community leaders to stop conniving with hoodlums, Mr.  Eriyo said,  “part of the problems we are having is that they work with some community leaders, who give them information about us while they do not give us any information that will assist us arrest them. But any community leader who is caught will be dealt with and we have tried to inform them of our resolve.”