The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Gombe State Command, said, on Thursday, that it uncovered an illegal refinery in the federal low-cost area of the state.

The commandant of the command, Muhammad Muazu, said the owner of the illegal refinery was arrested in the act of producing gasoline in the neighbourhood, adding that the arrest was sequel to complaints from residents.

He said, “The illegal refinery is situated within Gombe metropolis. In there is what they are illegally producing which is gas. We had the intelligence for weeks and we had been following. Yesterday God helped our men to move to arrest the perpetrators.

“The community members reported the odour emanating from the area and we kept monitoring it until now. Whatever the place is called it is harmful to the health and environment of the area.”

The acting Coordinator of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria in Gombe State, Abass Adamu, lauded the NSCDC for alerting for the operation.

Adamu said, “The business is not supposed to be there as it has hazardous effects on residents. It’s an unregistered company. My state coordinator has called off his leave to expedite the investigation and our director-general is also committed to rid the state and country of adulteration.”

However, the Managing Director of the facility, Abubakar Aliyu, maintained that the outfit was into pyrolysis and not crude refining.

Aliyu, 44 years old, told The PUNCH that he established the outfit shortly after attending a workshop in Abuja, adding that he did not know he needed SON registration to operate.

44- 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 Ministry of Environment.”