An illegal refinery where fuel is said to be refined has been uncovered in the federal low-cost area of Gombe, the capital of Gombe state.
The illegal refinery was uncovered on Thursday by operatives of the State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) acting on credible information from residents of the area.
The suspected operators of the illegal refinery were paraded at the headquarters of the Command in Gombe by the Commandant, Muhammad Muazu.
He said that the owner was arrested in the act of producing gasoline in the neighbourhood, adding that the arrest was sequel to complaints from residents.
Some of the residents who pleaded anonymity while speaking to Journalists during the parade said that the odour from the refinery had polluted the environment thereby putting their lives at risk.
They added that the owner was adamant of the health implications of the pollution to children and aged living in the area in spite of several appeals and warnings.
According to Muhammad Muazu, the alleged refinery is not eco-friendly, due to the hazardous substance emitted into the environment.
He said that “The illegal refinery is situated within the Gombe metropolis. There is what they are illegally producing which is gas, we had the intelligence for weeks and we have been following it up, only yesterday, (Wednesday), God helped our men to move to arrest the perpetrators.
“The community members reported the odour emanating from the area and we kept monitoring until now. Whatever the place is called, it is harmful to the health and environment of the area.”
Also speaking, acting Coordinator of Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Gombe State office, Abass Adamu, lauded the NSCDC for alerting his establishment which would ensure Gombe residents get value for their money.
Adamu promised to take the samples for laboratory analysis in order to determine the genuineness or otherwise of the substance being refined at the illegal refinery.
The SON Acting Coordinator said that, “A gasoline is a refined product from liquid crude oil, but this one is not from crude oil but they are using other raw materials to get extract gasoline from them.
“A gasoline is basically diesel. The company was wrongly sited. The business is not supposed to be there as it has hazardous effects to the residents. It is an unregistered company.
“My State Coordinator has called off his annual leave in order to expedite the investigation and our Director-General is also committed to rid the state and country off adulteration.”
On his part, the Managing Director of the illegal refinery, Abubakar Aliyu, denied insinuations that the establishment is a refinery describing it as pyrolysis.
He disclosed that he did not know he required registration with SON, as he used tyres, nylon, coal and many others as raw materials to produce the final product.
Aliyu said that that he established the pyrolysis shortly after attending a workshop in Abuja, stressing that, “When I learnt of the hazard, I went to buy land outside of the residential area. I didn’t know we required a registration from SON, but I was about to get clearance from the State Ministry of Environment.”
According to him, he did not build it himself but only gathered the needed expertise from people having had the clear vision of what he wanted.
He added that, “Since my childhood, I knew how to create things like car. I don’t build it myself, I call builders who give me what I want. I studied Agricultural Engineering, before now I have been in telecommunications, selling of recharge cards, phones. I only started this business three weeks ago.”
