Adulterated fuel depot uncovered in Lagos

Trucks near the depot.

Hello Friends!

ADEOLA BALOGUN uncovers the existence of an illegal depot in Lagos where fuel products are adulterated and distributed to consumers

Somewhere in Etal Close on Kudirat Abiola Way in Oregun, Lagos, some businessmen have set up an illicit depot, where diesel oil is adulterated and distributed to customers within and around the Lagos metropolis.

Investigations by SATURDAY PUNCH show that the depot is bordered by a large automobile warehouse near Welfare Bus Stop. A cartel of petroleum tanker drivers is believed to operate the facility in collaboration with some hoodlums in the neighbourhood.

Almost everyday, diesel-laden tankers discharge part of their cargo allegedly in exchange for adulterated fuel products at the depot.

Etal Close lies close to a slopy street where a popular hotel is situated. Seen from the lobby on the first floor of the hotel, the automobile warehouse looks like a glittering forest of cars displayed in beautiful rows.

Just down the hotel, the hulking frame of a church building stands in a T-junction. Everything else around the church seems normal. Yet, on the right hand side of the T-junction, the operators of the illegal fuel depot are busy carrying out their activities. To keep off prying eyes, they have screened off the depot with wooden panels.

For reasons best known to them, the owners of the depot have chosen a street on a steep slope, which is obviously unsuitable for articulated vehicles, for their illegal trade. Needless to stress, their products are said to be responsible for the rise in damaged injector engines in Lagos.

A source familiar with the activities at the depot notes that the operators make a lot of money to take care of themselves and the security men that protect their illicit trade.

The source says, “When you ask any member of the cartel to supply you diesel, as he is driving from Apapa, he will drive through Oregun down the dirt road and before 30 minutes, he will emerge again and supply the product.

“But what people don’t realise is that as the tanker drives in there, the guys have discharged a certain quantity of pure diesel and replaced it with the exact volume of adulterated products. They often mix it with kerosene and other chemicals, which are injurious to injector engines. As a customer, you don’t suspect any foul play because the volume of loaded product is what you are being supplied.”

When Saturday Punch visited the spot on Tuesday, some of the operators gathered round a food seller, who was dishing out a breakfast of rice, beans and dodo (fried plantain) to them. While the men ate their meal, our correspondent spotted a few drums filled with a substance that looked like kerosene lying around the place.

At the other end of the depot, a group of men were busy rolling what looked like drums of adulterated fuel products into a wooden building covered with corrugated iron sheets. When they were done, a man hastily shut the door, apparently to keep the contents of the makeshift store house from the public glare.

Different cars drove in occasionally and there were brief arguments over what seemed like business arrangements before the vehicles zoomed off.

Saturday Punch observed that despite the seemingly relaxed atmosphere that pervaded the place, strangers were not welcome at the depot. Our correspondent had to beat a hasty retreat when some of the operators began to stare at him suspiciously.

The source said the drums filled with chemicals and kerosene served as r rk on the journey to distribute their illicit cargo.

“If you don’t go deeper into that place, you will not realise the number of tankers that are inside that bush. Their business is shady, but they are there damaging engines without anybody challenging them,” the source lamented.

Our correspondent observed that the spot is neither a fuel station nor a mechanic workshop. Although various sheds dot the place, it hardly looks like a yard where repair work can be carried out on trucks.

The source said, “Even if you are tailing anyone of them working for you in a car, the driver will tell you that he wants to drive down to check one thing or two things in the vehicle. In less than 30 minutes, he would have come back to the road. Meanwhile, the deed is done because the product in the tank has been adulterated. They make good money from this, but nobody can challenge them.”

Saturday Punch learnt from another source that some security agents in the area are on the payroll of the owners of the depot.

He said, “At times, they give out as much as N2m as bribes to be left alone to carry on with their business. It is not that their activities are not known to our security, agencies, but they take care of them. If not, this is not a jungle or thick forest and nothing is hidden forever.

“It would have even be better if there is a fuel station here where they park temporarily before moving on but there is nothing like that. If nothing is fishy, how can tankers be driving in and driving out with products without anyone asking questions?”

When Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Joseph Jaiyeoba, was contacted, he said his command was not aware of the activities of any group of people adulterating fuel and reselling it to the public. He, however, pleaded with Saturday Punch to alert the command if it came across any.

Culled from The Punch.

xoxo

Simply Cheska...