About three weeks after it was sealed up for allegedly siphoning fuel from a pipeline belonging to the Petroleum Products and Marketing Company (PMC), Total filling station in Alakija; along the Lagos- Badagry expressway was last week reopened by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
Shortly after the allegation, the filling station was shut while security men were drafted to keep vigil over the ever-busy station, a development which reportedly elicited high level response from the management of the oil marketer; Total Nigeria Plc.
Shipping Position Weekly confirmed from industry sources last week that the filling station was ordered to reopen its gates for businesses following the outcome of investigations into the controversial siphoning of petroleum products.
The case was reportedly dropped after series of investigations were carried out through proper cheeking of the last loading records of the embattled station and of the five fully loaded oil tankers that were found within the premises of the filling station.
The products were alleged to have been siphoned from the PPMC pipelines located at the back of the petrol station and which were impounded by the Police. Our correspondent however learnt that the trucks had earlier loaded products legally with all corresponding documents from the depots of Folawiyo and Lister; both located in Apapa, Lagos.
A manager at the filling station who identified himself as Mr. Moses Edehwu and who was also arrested in connection with case, told Shipping Position Weekly that a letter was issued from the Lagos state command of the Police to DPR the concerning the allegations and that the station has since been freed of all charges.
“Before the police arrested me that day, they took me to the place were they said the pipe is, but I couldn’t find anything even though the sign board reads that there is a pipeline there; it was not visible, it was all an attempt to frame us up” he said.
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