The Police Special Anti Pipeline Vandalism Squad has arrested two suspected pipeline vandals who were gutted by fire while scooping petroleum products from a pipeline they vandalised.
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mr. Frank Mba, who paraded the suspects, Soji, 40 and Rotanna Ifeanyi, on Wednesday at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, said the suspects on March 20, 2014, broke an NNPC pipeline in Mabu creek, Ogun state.
He said luck, however, ran out on them when the product was ignited and both of them sustained various degrees of burns, but were able to get away from the crime scene before personnel of the squad arrived.
The spokesperson explained that the Squad working with the immediate community where the incident occurred subsequently trailed the suspects to where they were secretly receiving medical attention and effected their arrest.
Mba, who said the suspects were transferred to Abuja to get their health stabilised, added that they were doing well and would be charged to court when they were completely recovered.
He warned members of the public to desist from such act, saying that it did not only have dire economic consequences, but also exposed the perpetrators to risk of death or mortal injury.
Speaking to journalists, one of the suspects, simply identified as Soji, 40, vowed that he would never indulge in it again and urged other to desist from such acts.
