NSCDC Officials Shoots Policeman Escaping With Stolen Fuel

Nkan nbe. An Assistant Superintendent of Police attached to the
Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Adeniji Adele, Lagos State, Charles
Achidika, and two other suspected oil thieves are currently battling for their
lives at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.

It was learnt that Achidika and his accomplices, who are yet
to be identified, were shot on the Badagry waterways around 2am on December 2,
during a gun duel with men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps,
Lagos State Command.

The officer and other suspects had reportedly attempted to
transport 12,400 litres of petrol, said to have been stolen from a vandalised
pipeline, to Seme, a Lagos border town.

Punch Metro gathered that Achidika allegedly opened fire on
officials of the corps when the boat conveying the fuel was flagged down. He
was later overpowered and arrested.

The two injured accomplices were still unconscious when the
Punch correspondent visited LASUTH.

Five others – Bendran Isaac, Kobla Fashawo, Jimoh Olusegun,
Akapo Joseph, and Amos Bakom – were also arrested in the operation.

It was gathered that an AK-47 rifle with the Nigeria Police
Force inscribed on it and a pistol were recovered from them.

However, the ASP who managed to speak to journalists, denied
being complicit in the illegal oil business, saying the boat operators were
carrying him to where he wanted to apprehend some robbers when he was shot.

He said, “I am the Officer-in-Charge of the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad attached to Badagry.

“We went for an anti-robbery operation. During the
operation, officers of the NSCDC shot me. I didn’t go there to steal fuel. I
don’t have the strength to talk.”

Thirty-year-old Olusegun said he, Fashawo and Bakom were
taking the ASP for the operation on the sea when they observed that the NSCDC
officials had arrested Isaac and Joseph with a fuel-laden boat.

He added that Achidika had wanted to free them when the gun
duel began.

He said, “Officer Charles (Achidika) said he wanted to
arrest some suspects on the sea, that we should take him there. On our way
back, we saw a big boat and some persons with some NSCDC officers. We told the
policeman to let us go since the people seemed to be in NSCDC custody, but he
didn’t listen to us. It was the police officer that shot first before the NSCDC
officials responded. We were not caught with fuel.”

Isaac, a 31-year-old Togolese, said a man called Champion
had engaged him and six other fishermen to take the fuel to Seme, adding that
he never met the cop prior to the fateful day.

He said, “I am a fisherman. A man called Champion came to me
and said I would always help him to transport some fuel to Seme. We were taking
the fuel to Seme when we were arrested on the waterways. They brought us to the
shore and anchored our boat. The policeman came and asked who put us there and
I told him it was the NSCDC.

“He ordered me to move the boat. I didn’t know him before. I
started the engine and when we got to the middle of the sea, he shot in the
air. The NSCDC men responded and there was a gun battle. This is my first time
of carrying fuel. I am just the driver.”

The Lagos State Commandant of the corps, Gabriel Abafi, said
six of the suspects escaped while the crossfire lasted. He added that the
command swung into action after receiving a tip-off.