Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, who revealed this, described the illegal bunkering sites at Robert-Victor village, popularly called ‘‘Idi Mango’’ located offshore Lagos, as the den of Nigeria’s economic loss.
The Minister assured that a long term solution would be devised to tackle pipeline vandalism, adding that so far, about eight suspects have been arrested by the private sector operatives engaged by the Pipelines Products Marketing Company (PPMC) to complement the efforts of other security agencies.
He further said that the notorious pipeline vandals operating across the country must be brought to justice.
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“We hope that those apprehended will soon be prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others engaged in the nefarious activities.
“This development has further challenged us further to come up with innovative and technological strategies to tackle this menance. But the more progamme we have devised and come up with, the more the technology often deployed by vandals,’’ he said.
It was learnt that the suspects have been taken into custody at the Nigerian Naval Base, Western Command, Apapa, Lagos.
Part of those arrested at the scene were three Ghanaians, one Togolese and a Beninese.