Diesel racketeering under the nose of PPMC, NUPENG in Benin City

It was a gale of claim of ignorance in Edo State as the State Police, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum Product Marketing Company (PPMC), said they were not aware of petroleum products racketeering in the ancient city of Benin. None of them is aware, but the air was creamed with smell of diesel and kerosene. Residents of the area said the evil deal was no longer a secret. It is petroleum products racketeering in the ancient city of Benin where kerosene is mixed with diesel and sold to unsuspecting consumers who may be forced to face sudden and brutal death not knowing what they call kerosene has been tempered with by men who are ready to make money at the expense of societal safety.

Scores of innocent citizens have fallen victim to serious kerosene explosion across Delta and Edo states since 2012. Survivors who cheated death escaped with varying degrees of injuries. Unknown to the buyers who were mostly housewives and food-sellers, the killer products had been adulterated and sold at cheaper rate. One of the truck drivers who were interrogated at the time confessed that the illegally refined products were mixed with 13,000 litres of kerosene in Benin-City, the Edo State capital.

The BD SUNDAY’s investigation was prompted by a tip off that some oil marketers in Benin have again resumed the evil business of mixing diesel with kerosene on a particular street (name withheld), in order to make more profit.

Though, the Edo State Police Command, PPMC, and NUPENG, under whose noses the illegality is taking place denied knowledge of it, BD SUNDAY investigation can authoritatively reveal  that the criminal act is now frequent  and public knowledge. Sometimes, the perpetrators spend all night mixing petroleum products with touch lights, investigation has shown.

The perpetrators also appear not afraid of being arrested as they desperately carry out the nefarious act even in broad day light.

Dongo Lucky David, a facility manager, Golden Ruby Auto Centre, told BD SUNDAY that apart from the resultant inferno as a result of adulteration of the kerosene, the negative impact of diesel mixed with excessive kerosene on vehicle engines primarily designed to run on diesel could be very severe; explaining that frequent overheating is usually the initial sign of such adulteration.

“You are killing the engine because if you continue like that without early detection your machine’s injector rotor head will get damaged and l can tell you that it will cost a lot of money to replace it. Again, it will affect the climb-ability of your truck on hills plus the white smoke emission,” David said.

According to him, diesel, whether red or white, has to be ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) up to 7%bio. “Diesel has a redwood viscosity of 35seconds; heating systems use many different types of fuel but in the main Kerosene which is 28second oil being thinner than diesel; the other common fuel is gas oil which is diesel dye red with a chemical tracer too so it can be tracked for customs reasons due to the ruling on USLD use in off road vehicles as well as on road all tractors machines generators. It is a dangerous thing those guys are doing in Benin. The breakdown of many diesel-powered cars on our roads may not be unconnected with this dastard act”, he said.

Some of the residents who spoke with BD SUNDAY lamented the inability of security agencies in the state to nip the menace in the bud in order to avoid a repeat of the 2012 disaster.

A woman, who spoke with our reporter on condition of anonymity, said she had had to change stove every now and then because of the damage adulterated kerosene was doing to it. “The smell and the smoke are different from that of real kerosene. I try not to buy kerosene around here to avoid buying the one they mixed. The truth is nobody knows where they are selling it. My major fear is that the whole area will not be gutted by fire in the coming days. They definitely have people at the top backing them,” she said.

Another resident, who actually gave the tip off (name withheld) told BD SUNDAY that the adulteration of petroleum products in the area had been a recurring issue and that the leadership of NUPENG and PPMC in the state cannot claim ignorance because the crime scene was too close to them.

 He said: “Everybody around here knows what is going on; where after loading fuel at the depot, the oil marketers, instead of driving to the station where they are supposed to offload the fuel, will divert and bring it close to this school that is not functioning again. Most time, they come with kerosene and diesel. We all know kerosene is scarce but we discover that with little mixture of diesel, kerosene is being gotten in larger quantity. At the end of the day, by the time kerosene and diesel are mixed, you will discover that the diesel, which was originally designed, is no longer diesel; and even the kerosene which we all know too well is no longer the kerosene that we are using. You also know diesel is very expensive. So, by adding kerosene to diesel they will make more profit!”

He said because of the mixture, the kerosene now has foul smell. “Even the women who make domestic use of kerosene are also complaining that the thread in their stove equally get dry very quickly because of the content of diesel that is present in it. Though, this is my second year in this area, for the past one year, I have been able to note that this kind of thing is not just starting. It has been on for long,” he said.

According to him, the saddest part of it is that some security operatives were allegedly aiding and abating the oil marketers in carrying out the dastardly act.

“Most times, the army operatives who are members of the Joint Taskforce will even stand by them while the transactions are going on; and at the end of the day, they are given their share for taking part in the illegality”, he said.

He also decried a situation where the unfortunate and cruel act was happening under the noses of PPMC and the NUPENG.

“There are indications that they are aware of this kind of evil because it is happening right under their noses. For it to have continued like this, it simply means some big wigs of both PPMC and NUPENG are involved in the illegality. Looking at the whole situation, I can tell you government itself maybe indirectly involved”, he alleged.

He said apart from the JTF who regularly patrols the area, the Divisional Police under Ikpoba Okha Local Government in charge of the area may be sleeping on guard.

“What we see always is that once any tanker enters the area, the police will follow the tanker, not to arrest the driver or other perpetrators, but to get their own share from the dangerous enterprise.

Johnbull Asemota, chairperson of NUPENG, Edo State chapter, was said not to be on seat when BD SUNDAY called to get his side of the story.

One Ogbebor declined to give Asemota’s number when the request was made. Effort to reach the leadership of PPMC in Benin also did not yield meaningful result as the security men attached to the depot said none of the leaders could be reached.

Hotspot in Benin where diesel is mixed with kerosene. Photo: Nathaniel Akhigbe

But Isaac O. Aberare, national secretary of NUPENG told BD SUNDAY that the national leadership was not aware of the cruelty, saying that any member who engages in adulteration of petroleum products will be disowned by the association.  

“I am just hearing this. What is the name of the street again? The national leadership of NUPENG would not tolerate this kind of evil. We are going to set up an investigative team to look into the matter. Any member found culpable would face the long arm of the law. Adulteration of petroleum products is what we will not tolerate”, he said.

Also speaking to BD SUNDAY, Nasir Imodagbe, PPMC’s public affairs manager, said the development was unfortunate, while urging all the stakeholders in the sector and well-meaning Nigerians to stand together against what he called “dangerous criminal activities” in order to avoid hazardous outcomes associated with adulteration of petroleum products. 

He said: “Who told you what they are doing there might not be transfer of our products they got through pipelines vandalism? Many of our pipelines have been vandalised in the Benin and Delta. Sometimes, they would pretend as mechanics during the day and in the night would turn vandals until we got intelligence just as you are saying now and arrested many of them. Petroleum products takers’ drivers are not supposed to stop within the parameter of the depot where they lifted products from. If they do, something is wrong”, he said.

He said it was the exclusive duty of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to ensure products lifted from depots arrive destinations in the same quality it was lifted, while that of PPMC was to ensure quality petroleum products was delivered to the oil marketers at the depots.

“It is actually the work of DPR to ensure that these products get to destinations in the same quality. Ours is to sale in bulk to oil marketers in quality and competitive prices; but as concerned Nigerians in the sector, we must all work together to achieve sanity. This kind of act is too dangerous. We know the dangers that are associated with it. I can tell you that the PPMS’s officials in Benin Depot are not involved because they know the implication. The consequences are too severe for them to toy with. Please, if you know any name of the depot officials or the marketers involved we will be happy to bring them to justice”, he said.

Efforts to reach Paul Osu, spokesperson of DPR, were not successful as several calls to his cell phone indicated it was out of network coverage. As at the time of filing in this report he had also yet to reply text message sent to his mobile phone line.

Responding, Uwohnoble Friday, Edo State Police Command public relations officer (PRO), told BD SUNDAY that the command would set up an independent intelligence gathering team, having been informed by our correspondent of the illegality, in order to bring the perpetrators to book.

He also said the police authority was not aware that its men were aiding such criminal activities, insisting that any officer caught in such illegal web should be ready to face the law.

“We have been trying to sanitise the police of all forms of malpractice since the beginning of this administration in the state. Any officer who engages in this kind of act knows the implication. I am particularly not aware of this kind of thing in Edo State. It is good you are bringing it to our notice and I promise you we are going to start investigation in earnest. Once people are arrested you will be told. This is a serious offense because it is also an economic sabotage. smic sabotage)otage).owered cars on our roads may not be unconnected to this dastard act” primarily designed by makerDon’t publish the name of the street until we have done our own investigation”, he said, noting that the JTF was primarily responsible for securing the area where the illegality was taken place.

The Benin depot comprised 17 storage tanks with a combined design capacity to hold 121, 720,000 litres of petroleum products- namely premium motor spirits, house hold kerosene and automobile gas oil. The facility has nine loading arms and it was constructed in 1978 and commissioned on August 30, 1979.

The depot serves as a link for products evacuation from the Warri Refining and Petro-Chemical Company via a 16-inch pipeline traversing 89.9km. Diezani Alison-Madueke, minister of Petroleum Resources, re-commissioned the strategic Benin Depot of the Pipelines and PPMC which had been lying comatose since 2005.

Nathaniel Akhigbe