Security officers in Kisumu have busted a fuel syphoning racket following a tip-off from members of the public.
Boda boda operators in the Maua area of Lolwe estate on Monday evening noticed an oil slick in a nearby stream, which they traced to a house under construction.
Police officers rushed to the scene and cordoned off the area as the fuel smell sent panic through the estate.
The officers, who were joined by safety officers from Kenya Pipeline Corporation (KPC), kept vigil at the scene to avert any danger.
Kisumu County Commissioner (CC) Hussein Alassow Hussein said investigations have been launched to establish the owner of the house and the suspects who are at large.
“We cannot at the moment say exactly what happened, but the fact of the matter is that there is a leakage along the pipeline. We have come here to secure the place and initiate investigations,” he said.
Hussein said preliminary investigations indicate that the suspect had connected a pipe from the main KPC Nakuru-Kisumu line into an underground tank in the compound.
The tank, which was disguised as a septic tank, started leaking, spilling the oil into a nearby stream.
“We have not seen the suspects or the owners of the building, but our officers are looking for them,” he said.
This, he said, was the third incident on the line over the last year, asking members of the public to stay away from the scene as investigations continue.
KPC, he said, was making plans to evacuate the fuel in the septic tank and take necessary measures to seal the leakage.
A watchman guarding one of the houses in the estate said a white pickup had been seen several times dropping off people at the house at around 7 p.m.
“This has been happening for a very long time, and we have always wondered what they come to do at night because during the day it is usually very quiet,” he said.
Jacob Otieno, a resident of Lolwe Estate, asked the police to carry out thorough investigations and arrest the suspects, whom he said had endangered the lives of thousands of people.
“The series of these syphoning events is worrying. It appears like an inside job because there is no way somebody can abstract fuel from the KPC line without them knowing,” he said.
KPC officials who were at the scene declined to comment on the matter.
By Chris Mahandara
