Nigerian
Oil magnate and chairman of Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Ifeanyi
Ubah, has been arrested by the Department of State Services, DSS. The
department made this disclosure on Saturday in a statement by its
spokesman, Tony Opuiyo.
Opuiyo said the former guber aspirant in Anambra State was arrested
on Friday in connection with the theft of petrol kept by the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in his tank farm in Lagos. The
product was valued at over N11 billion.
The agency said Ubah’s action amounted to economic sabotage, with “capacity to negatively impact on national economy”.
“In furtherance of his gimmicks to undermine the government and
people of Nigeria, he has incited members of the Petroleum Tanker
Drivers (PTD), a critical player in the downstream sub-sector of the
Petroleum Industry, to refuse/stop the lifting of products.
“This is part of his plans to curry their sentiments and cause them
to embark on strike and also stage protests in his favour with the
ulterior motive of arm-twisting the NNPC to abandon the cause of
recovering the stolen products. The implications of this on law and
order is, in fact, a common knowledge. It is consequent upon this that
the Service arrested and will prosecute him forthwith.
” The public is hereby reassured that the Service will collaborate
with appropriate agencies to ensure that the mischievous activities of
any person or group(s) to engage in illegal activities will not affect
the effective distribution of products across the country. It will also
support such agencies to bring to book individuals or companies involved
in any criminal act that undermines the nation’s economy,” the
statement added.