Two Suspects Arrested For Allegedly Stealing Diesel

…Apatira Reaffirms Commitment To Security Of Lives, Property

Vincent John
Two suspects were arrested on Friday for allegedly stealing litres of diesel product meant for street lights in Itire-Ikate Local Council Development Area of the state.

The suspects, a female staff of Lagos State Electricity Board, Monsura Eniola was arrested alongside her accomplice identified as Taiwo, a hotel manager in Ojuelegba while attempting to siphon the product minutes after it was supplied.

The suspects and the diesel product allegedly stolen, according to the Special Assistant to the Executive Chairman on security matters, Comrade Ayo Oshodi, were handed over to the police at the Ijeshatedo Police State for thorough investigation.

Comrade Oshodi lamented that street lights in Agbebi, Ijesha and Lawanson road which were commissioned during the administration of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola have not been functioning.

He stated that for over two years, streets in Itire-Ikate LCDA have suffered neglect in the areas of provision of street lights, save for the solar powered street lights facilitated by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila.

He added, “Street lights in almost all the communities in Itire-Ikate have stopped working in the last two years or more.

Some of our streets in Itire-Ikate community are powered by solar energy as facilitated by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila.

Aside this, residents live in total blackout because of faulty or absence of generator to power the street lights.
Similar situation exist in Agbebi, Ijesha road and Imam Shuaib as in the last two years and still counting, these streets have been in total blackout.

Despite a standby generator, street lights on Adeshina Street, have never for once light up the community.

It is therefore shocking to discover that despite this blackout, there are claims of steady supply of diesel to our communities yet our streets at night are in darkness.

Consequently, we received complaints from the affected communities with residents alleging complicity and sabotage of efforts of the government by its officials.

They complained about how diesel products that are meant for powering generator are being diverted by officials.

So to address these complaints, on the discretion of the Executive Chairman; we started monitoring the supply of diesel to Agbebi to establish the alleged diversion.

And our efforts eventually paid off with the arrest of two suspects.

How did we achieve this? Around 6pm on Friday, they came to supply diesel to a generator that has not been working for so many years.

After the supply, they left.

But we were surprised to see another set of people walked into the picture. They started loading their gallons with the diesel with the sole aim of siphoning it.

As they were at it, we pounced on them and got them arrested.

We arrested two people. A woman who claimed to be a staff of the Lagos State Electricity Board and her partner who was later identified as a manager in a hotel somewhere in Ojuelegba.

We have handed them over to the police at the Ijesha Police station with two gallons of the diesel product stolen as exhibit. We hope they would be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted.”

Speaking on the implications of his community in blackout, he said, “Hoodlums have taken advantage of the blackout to perpetrate evil acts. They rob residents of their valuables.
Recently at Duro Oyedoyin junction and Imam Shuaib Street, there were reports of phones and bags snatching from residents returning to their homes at night.

The police are trying their best but the Lagos state government need to get street lights in our community fixed as this will help in the fight against crimes.”

While describing the suspects’ attitude as sabotage of Lagos State Government’s efforts towards lighting up the state, Executive Chairman of Itire-Ikate Local Council Development Area, Hon (Dr) Ahmed Apatira, urged residents to desist from acts that could threaten the peace of the community.

He appealed to the concerned state agency to ensure that street lights in Itire-Ikate LCDA are restored, while stressing his administration’s commitment to curbing insecurity and all forms of criminality.

“I want to assure all residents of our commitment to providing all round security for the safety of lives and properties. We are poised to combating insecurity and ensure that our communities are conducive for residents to live in.

However, it is disturbing to see some people making attempt to sabotage the efforts of the Lagos State government aimed at effectively lighting up our streets.

For so many years, almost all our streets are in total darkness all because of some unscrupulous elements. We have seen situations whereby diesel product are supplied every ten days to power the street lights yet our communities are in darkness.

One cannot but wonder what happened to the product being supplied every ten days? Or how can we explain the supply of diesel to generators that are not functioning?

This is indeed a clear case of sabotage and deliberate attempt to inflict hardship on residents. Now that they have been caught, what more can I say other than to allow the police to thoroughly investigate the suspects and the alleged diesel theft. All hands must be on deck to combat all forms of crime.”

Meanwhile, the Lagos state street lights relationship manager, Engineer Sikiru Olawale, has debunked the allegation of diesel theft as spurious.

When he visited the Ijesha Police station on Saturday to secure the bail of the arrested suspects, he said, Agbebi where the alleged diesel theft took place serves as diesel distribution depot from where the product is distributed to various communities.

“They were illegally arrested. The diesel products were meant to be distributed to streets including Adetola, Abraham, Falolu, Amosun and Afribank etc. Everything they did was according to my instructions. I chose Agbebi as the depot because of its closeness to other points.

Our distribution point is at Eagle club but due to the increasing cost of distribution, I moved the depot to Agbebi but I was surprised when I heard that they have been arrested for stealing diesel.

Although nobody would see diesel being dispensed and after a while being taken out of the community without raising an eyebrow but I can assure you that there is no case of diesel theft as alleged.

The diesel are meant to be taken to other spots to power their street lights.”

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