The Lagos State Government on Friday said it shut 12 houses in Abeokuta and Ibadan Streets in Ilasamaja area of the state over discovery of shallow oil wells built by landlords to steal diesel from pipelines belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
The State’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde, said this while briefing newsmen at the Lagos House, Ikeja.
Mr. Ayorinde said the oil wells were built for the purpose of illegally scooping diesel and selling same to members of the public.
He said some of the affected landlords built pumping machine and boreholes to perpetrate the crime on a large scale.
Mr. Ayorinde said the step to shut the wells and cordon off the area was taken by government to forestall loss of lives and property as a result of the looming danger.
Mr. Ayorinde said a combined team from the police command, the Ministry of Environment, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, Lagos State Fire Service and Sole Administrator of Isolo Local Council Development Area carried out a thorough inspection of the entire area and discovered nothing less than 12 of the illegal oil wells.
He said initial investigation revealed that a few of the landlords where the wells were located were taking advantage of the situation by commercialising the dangerous act.
He said that samples of the substance had been taken for immediate investigation in order to determine the true nature of the substance as well as the root cause of this unsual occurrence.
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