Following the revelations by the federal government about plans by the terrorist group, Boko Haram, to plant Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs) in petrol trucks and drive them to crowded places, tank farm operators in Lagos have said that they are not ruling out the possibility of the threat on tank farms.
Following the revelations by the federal government about plans by the terrorist group, Boko Haram, to plant Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs) in petrol trucks and drive them to crowded places, tank farm operators in Lagos have said that they are not ruling out the possibility of the threat on tank farms.
Coordinator of the National Briefing Centre on Terrorism and Director General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omeri, had stated that intelligence reports available to the government indicated that the insurgents planned to hijack petrol tankers and he subsequently placed the Petrol Tankers Association on red alert.
Speaking with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week, Operations Manager of the First Deepwater Offshore Depot in Lagos; Mr. Sunday Okpithe said that stakeholders are not ruling out the possibility of this threat on tank farms.
Okpithe told our correspondent that in view of the warning issued by the government, tank farm operators have boosted security at their facilities and are now more conscious.
"In the next security meeting of tank farms, we will talk about it and introduce new measures" he added.
The Coordinator; Mr. Mike Omeri had said last week that: "The Nigerian security services have received intelligence reports to the effect that insurgents intend seizing petrol tankers and plant IEDs in the tankers and drive them to crowded places in Abuja"
"Against this backdrop, we hereby call on the Petrol Tankers Association to be on red alert and advise their members to report any attempt or the seizure of their vehicles to security agencies," he said.
According to him, Nigerians are also advised to report any broken down tanker in any part of the territory. "We are using this opportunity to appeal to the public to be on the alert particularly when they see any tanker driving dangerously”, he stated.
Discussion about this post