Exposed: 3 tankers bombed in Maiduguri blast carried diverted petrol.

Exposed: 3 tankers bombed in Maiduguri blast carried diverted petrol.

The Borno Command of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps(NSCDC), today revealed that the three tankers destroyed by three female suicide bombers in Maiduguri on Friday, carried  petrol meant for  Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) mega stations.

 But the petrol  was diverted and kept in a private home. The Commandant of the Corps, Abdullahi Ibrahim, stated this in an interview with newsmen on Saturday in Maiduguri. Ibrahim said that the agency’s  surveillance anti-vandal team had uncovered that the petrol was meant for NNPC  mega stations but was  diverted and hidden in a private home on Damboa Road in Maiduguri.

 He said that the incident could not have happened if the petrol had been  taken to its destination by the petroleum marketers. “It was unfortunate that some individuals were hell bent in diverting petroleum products to create artificial scarcity in the town.

 “Those tankers destroyed by three female suicide bombers were meant to be in filling stations to meet local demands of motorists. ”

 We have been warning them against diversion but they won’t listen. Just last week we arrested about four persons and sealed their filling stations  for selling the petrol above pump price. “We learnt that there is a deliberate plan to create artificial scarcity in the town by hiding the product to make it scarce.

 “This development is not only anti- people but also a threat to the lives and security of the good people of the state. ” We therefore warn marketers and petroleum marketers to desist from  hiding and diverting petrol in their homes or face the wrath of the law,”said Ibrahim.