Six individuals have been arrested for allegedly stealing 30 kilometers of pipeline on the Warri-Kaduna route at Ekperi, Edo State.
Chairman of the Edo State Task Force on Recovery of Government Property, Eugene Okolosie, disclosed this during a media briefing on Wednesday in Benin City, while giving an update on the activities of the task force.
According to Okolosie, the suspects are believed to have used excavators to dig out the pipes, which were originally laid to convey crude oil from Warri to the Kaduna refinery. He revealed that the stolen pipeline components were recovered from the suspects, who may have collaborated with members of the local community to perpetrate the crime.
“This level of pipeline theft has caused severe damage to the infrastructure, and we have reasons to believe it was carried out with community collusion,” he said.
In a related development, five other suspects were arrested in Uhuoghun, Orhionmwon Local Government Area, for vandalizing government-owned agricultural tractors and heavy-duty equipment with the intention of selling them. Similarly, five additional suspects were apprehended in Okpella for stealing high-tension electricity components.
Okolosie raised alarm over the escalating encroachment and illegal sale of government lands, including forest reserves and school properties, across the state.
“In Sobe, the government’s forest reserves were sold off by the people. They cut down melina and teak trees and converted the land to plantain farms. This has been ongoing for the past eight years,” he stated.
He further decried how lands allocated for schools, markets, civic centers, and other public infrastructure were being sold off by unscrupulous community members. He cited Ewomama Community, where lands meant for a civic center, generator house, market, and secondary school were sold. Fortunately, the government has since reclaimed those properties.
Okolosie stressed that school lands are under constant threat, noting that in Uromi, a private school has been erected inside a public school compound—a trend he described as an attack on the community’s future.
“We have recovered many of such lands, and we will continue to do so. Anybody that attacks education is attacking the future of his community,” he said.
The task force chairman also warned the public to be wary of fraudsters posing as task force officials demanding money under false pretenses. He praised the Edo State Government for its continued support and pledged that the task force would not relent in its mandate to recover public assets and safeguard state property.
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