Fuel: NSCDC men attack station manager, four others in Abeokuta

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NIGERIA: MEN of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDS) Ogun State Command at the weekend allegedly injured five persons in their desperate attempt to force their way into a fuel station in Abeokuta.

The incident occurred last Friday at the MRS fuel station at Isale-Igbein area of the state capital.

The station had daily been selling fuel at the official rate of N86.5 in Abeokuta, the development which attracted a large number of buyers.

GatewayMail learnt that the injured persons – the Manager of the station, Iyabo Fakunle and three attendants, Oluwole Omitope, Sodunke Olayinka and Alagbe Sefiu, and a taxi driver, Yomi Olatoye, who sustained gunshot in his stomach and left arm – were later hospitalized.

Eyewitness said that the men of the NSCDC stormed the station in a commando like style operations to forcefully purchase fuel into their vans, and some jerry cans.

Trouble began when officers of the corps besieged the fuel station in their Nissan Pathfinder SUV, Ogun DED 49 AA and a Hilux van both filled with empty jerry cans and demanded the attendants to fill all the cans.

The demand of the NSCDC men infuriated fuel buyers, who had waited for several hours with many who had spent some days at the station waiting for the fuel.

An exchange of angry words between the officers and the buyers led to the men in uniform to react violently, just as the female station manager pleaded with them to allow her dispense fuel to some of the buyers who had been on queue.

Her appeal was ignored by the men, it was further gathered, and they subsequently forced their way inside the station by pulling the gate which injured some customers, and also disrupted the queue arrangements.

Not only that, the NSCDC officials began whipping those in sight and in an attempt to run away, many of the buyers sustained injuries during the ensuing melee, while they also shot into the air to scare and caused panic among the buyers.

In an interview with GatewayMail, Fakunle stated that at a point she switched off the dispensing machines in order to cool down the atmosphere before continuing selling the fuel.

She explained that the measure angered the officers who started shooting sporadically, adding that the angry NSCDC officers later reinforced and stormed the station with two official vehicles, CD 1048 A01 and CD 150 A01, and displaying guns and knives to further scare away the angry mob.

Fakunle explained that all her appeals to the officers not to shoot within the fuel station to avoid igniting fire were rebuffed.

According to her, the two main gates to the station were left open as officers of the corps chased away attendants and other buyers with guns and knives, while they also forcefully opened the inner office iron-gate in their attempt to apprehend one of the attendants, Sodunke.

GatewayMail gathered that while Fakunle was injured in the attempt by the officers to open the iron gate of the station, Oluwole suffered deep cut on his left arm and Alagbe also sustained injuries too.

Similarly, the windscreen of a private Astra OPEL dark-blue car marked with Lagos number, EKY 340 AT, owned by one Mutiu Idowu, was smashed by the irate officers.

In his reaction, the State Commandant of the Corps, Akinwande Aboluwoye, absolved his men of the allegations, saying that it was the fuel buyers who molested his men when they attempted to ensure orderliness at the station.

Aboluwoye, who also said that there was an attempt made by the angry motorists to beat up his men and snatch their guns, stressed that it was at that point that his officers shot into the air.

“The hoodlums attempted to beat up our men; they even make attempt to snatch their guns, and wanted to lynch one of our men,” he said, adding: “It was at this stage our men shot into the air to scare them.”

The NSCDC boss further explained that it was the policemen from Ibara Station, who were on patrol that rescued three of his officers from the angry fuel buyers from being beaten.