F*L*A*S*H! Police informant, three others arrested for pipeline vandalism

  

An informant for the Inspector-General of Police’s Special Task Force on Anti-Pipeline Vandalism Unit, Ahmed Bashorun, has been arrested after being implicated in a case of pipeline vandalism.
Bahorun, who goes by the pseudonym, D1, allegedly hired the other suspects, Banjo Nofiu, Ogunleti Okanlawon, 32 and Nofiu Rasak to vandalise pipelines and siphon petrol while also giving the police information in order to clear him of all suspicions.
One of the suspects, Okonlawon, disclosed that he was working for D1.
The Oyo state-born panel beater said he used his bus to convey the product from the jetty to a junction from where the product was sold.
He said, “I work for D1. I use my bus to help them carry fuel. At the end of each trip, they pay me between N5, 000 and N6, 000. At times, I go once a week or twice. I take the products to Oke-Oko junction, from where they will sell to buses. I am not involved in the sales; I only convey them to the junction. But I stopped working since February.”
However, D1 described Okanlanwon’s claim as untrue, adding that he was truly an informant that had been set up by the vandals.
He said, “I help police to locate where vandals are. I am an informant. I chose to work for the police because I am close to them. But I was surprised when they arrested these guys and they mentioned my name.
Mr. Friday Ibadin, who is in charge of the task force, said the suspects engaged the police in an eight-hour gun battle, at Kadoko -Konu area of Ikorodu before their arrest.
He said at the end of the gun duel, it was discovered that the suspects built their houses close to the creeks from where they created routes through which they conveyed stolen petroleum products from Arepo.
He said, “On Sunday, we learnt that about 80 vandals were shooting at Kadoko Konu area of Ikorodu. We stormed there at midnight, where we exchange fire with them. But considering government’s property and in order to prevent any fire outage, we stopped shooting at about 8am. But they continued firing until about 10am. When they did not see any response from us, I believe they continued to siphon fuel.
“We allowed them do their work inside the creeks while we cordoned off the entire exit points. Later, we picked up three of them and during interrogation; one of them mentioned the fourth person whom he identified as D1”
He said after the shoot-out, the police recovered 2000 litres of petrol, canoe paddlers and a generator. – Source: Punch