EFCC finds suspected illegal diesel refinery in Ogun
- EFCC operatives raided a suspected illegal refinery in Ogere, Ogun State, on Saturday, October 31.
- The site was deserted, but two underground tanks held liquid believed to be diesel.
- The anti-graft agency says it is still working to identify the operators and the company behind the site.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has found a suspected illegal refinery in Ogere, Ogun State, where diesel was allegedly being produced from waste oil. The site was deserted when operatives of the commission's Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 arrived on Saturday, October 31.
The EFCC announced the discovery in a statement on Tuesday, issued by its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale. It said the raid followed intelligence and surveillance on people suspected of refining sludge oil without approval.
Ogere sits along the Lagos–Ibadan expressway, a busy corridor for fuel tankers and haulage trucks. Illegal refining has long been a problem in the Niger Delta, but findings like this show the trade reaching inland communities in the South West.
What the operatives found
According to the EFCC, the facility was deserted when operatives stormed the premises. What remained were waste from the refining process and underground tanks that appeared to have been used to heat and treat sludge oil.
Two of the tanks checked held a liquid the commission believes is Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), the fuel Nigerians know as diesel. Diesel powers generators, trucks and many small businesses, so its price and supply affect transport costs and the cost of goods.
The EFCC said its early findings suggest the operators brought sludge oil, also called black sludge, from Warri in Delta State and Port Harcourt in Rivers State. The material was then heated so that lighter parts passed through chambers and filters, in a process the commission believes produced diesel for sale in Nigeria.
Security staff at the site told EFCC operatives that the Chinese operators never revealed who they were or which company owned the facility, according to the statement.
The raid followed the EFCC's earlier clampdown on four illegal lithium processing plants in the same area, the commission said.
What happens next
The EFCC has taken over the premises. It said investigations are ongoing to establish who ran the site, who owns it and how far the suspected illegal activities went. The commission is also looking into whether the operation amounted to economic sabotage.
The EFCC has not named any suspect or company behind the facility. Under Nigerian law, a person is presumed innocent until a court says otherwise.
For residents and businesses in Ogun and nearby states, the case raises questions about where cheap diesel sold in the open market comes from, and whether regulators can trace it. The EFCC has not said how much fuel the site may have produced or where it was sold.
