There was a shooting incident in the early hours of Friday at the Oil Refinery at Kissy Dock Yard, east of the capital, which led to the arrest of 26 people believed to be thieves.
The 26 reportedly broke into the compound to steal fuel belonging to the Elite Petroleum Company, the company’s executive director Saffia Marua revealed to Awoko.
He disclosed further that the incident was not the first time people had broken into the refinery to pilfer their product.
It was this time around they were able to nab the culprits through the assistance of the company’s security and some police officers attached to the OSD headquarters in Freetown.
He mentioned that they had over one thousand metric tons of fuel in the refinery, and that the thieves were unable to gain entrance to the refinery proper as they were stopped by one Thorlu Bangura.
The executive director went further that to secure their fuel in the refinery they decided to have their security officers in the area who were able to arrest the culprits.
One of the security guards, Mohamed Turay (Abomi) of the Elite Petroleum who was around when the incident occurred, said he saw a tanker entered the refinery while another loaded with fuel was leaving the compound.
He noted that he decided to chase the loaded tanker and later found out that the fuel in the vehicle belonged to the Elite Petroleum company and he ordered the driver to stop.
When he refused, he shot twice at the tanker’s tyres which led to some of the fuel spilling to the ground.
He said he later alerted his boss who informed the OSD headquarters which dispatched some police officers, headed by OC Sinkoh Sesay. And that on arrival at the scene they [the OSD personnel] were shot at by the armed gang.
According to OC Sinkoh Sesay, some police officers were beaten by the thieves who shot at them but they were able to put them under control and arrested 26 people including the CSO of the Oil Refinery who they suspected of being part of the gang.
He disclosed that the detainees had been taken to the Kissy Police station for further investigation.
By Bernard Turay