Senior police officer tells juniors to allow ‘owners’ siphon fuel

By Vincent Mabatuk

Nakuru, Kenya: The extent of fuel theft syndicate operations along the highways played out yesterday after a tanker transporting suspected siphoned fuel was involved in an accident on the Nakuru-Nairobi highway.

After the accident, members of the public, armed with containers, arrived at the scene ready to siphon the fuel, a move that was thwarted by the police guarding the tanker. The angry mob threatened to beat up the officers.

Shortly after, the officers were shocked when a group of ten, who claimed ownership of the fuel, arrived and chased them away.

As the confrontation between the police and the ‘owners’ ensued, the officers allegedly received orders from a senior police officer, who they could not name, to report back to the station.

“We have been recalled by our seniors,” said an officer on condition of anonymity as they left the scene.

The group started scooping the spilled fuel using plastic buckets at Stem on the Nakuru-Nairobi highway. They also used a small generator connected to long pipes to get fuel from the accident tanker to another one, which was brought to the scene.

“The origin of this fuel must be investigated; the contaminated fuel will definitely find its way to the market and should be stopped. The whole issue is questionable,” said one of the officers as he left the scene.

The officers had earlier stood their ground against the group scooping the spilled oil, but after they allegedly received the call, they left the scene.

The officers helplessly watched the scene from a safe distance as gang representatives went and mocked them, and even talked of how they could influence their transfers from the area.

“The lesson you have learnt is not enough, we are going to deal with you more firmly so that you will never forget!” shouted a man who seemed to be the leader of the group to the police officers.

The officers, who looked terrified, left the accident scene as they narrated the shocking revelation of how senior police officers in the region collude with wealthy people, among them a politician, to steal fuel in transit at will.

Two months ago, The Standard carried a report on how senior police officers colluded with unscrupulous businessmen to siphon fuel meant for export. The businessmen give officers money in return for protection.

After the expose, police from Rongai raided illegal depots at Salgaa, where they impounded thousands of litres of fuel meant for export but diverted by the shrewd businessmen.

When reached for a comment, Nakuru OCPD Bernard Kioko said the police officers who responded to the accident had no mandate to stop the owners from salvaging their goods.

“But why were they preventing them from salvaging their property? They had introduced themselves as the owners and should not have been denied access to it,” said Kioko.

He could not, however, explain the rationale of scooping already contaminated oil back into the tanker.