The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered 2.3 million litres of Automotive Gas Oil, commonly known as diesel, valued at N4.485 billion from Ibafon Oil and Gas in Lagos over an alleged case of stealing and criminal conversion.
The recovery was carried out by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the EFCC on Monday, August 17, 2026, from Mamemo Ibru of Ibafon Oil and Gas.
The commission disclosed the development on Tuesday, August 18, in a post on its official X account.
The recovery followed a petition by Prudent Energy and Services Limited, which alleged that petroleum products entrusted to Ibafon Oil and Gas for storage had been unlawfully converted.
Prudent Energy alleged that the alleged conversion resulted in a significant discrepancy between the volume of petroleum products expected to remain in storage and the quantity physically available at the depot.
According to the EFCC, periodic withdrawals from the stored petroleum products reduced the outstanding stock to 2,574,031 litres.
However, a subsequent physical measurement and reconciliation exercise found only 206,761 litres remaining in the storage tanks.
The exercise therefore revealed a deficit of 2,367,270 litres.
The EFCC said its investigation found that Ibafon Oil and Gas buys and sells AGO while storing its own petroleum products alongside products belonging to customers at the same depot.
The commission further alleged that Ibru, using his position as owner of Ibafon Oil and Gas, trucked out petroleum products beyond the quantity belonging to the company and allegedly converted products belonging to Prudent Energy for personal use.
Following the intervention, the recovered petroleum products were handed over to Prudent Energy.
The case highlights the importance of effective storage infrastructure, inventory management and reconciliation systems in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market, where large volumes of petroleum products are stored at depots before distribution to marketers and consumers.
Prudent Energy and Services Limited is a Nigerian downstream energy company with a reported annual trading and distribution capacity of more than 1.2 million tonnes of hydrocarbon products.
The company has previously been involved in a separate commercial dispute in Nigeria’s downstream oil sector. In 2022, Zenon Petroleum & Gas Limited petitioned the Federal High Court in Lagos to wind up Prudent Energy over an alleged $6 million debt.
Prudent Energy disputed the claim, stating that the matter was subject to ongoing legal and arbitration proceedings.
Ibafon Oil and Gas traces its origins to Ibafon Chemicals Limited, a joint venture established with Dow Chemical in 1979. The company subsequently moved from chemical importing into bulk-liquid handling and petroleum storage, with Ibafon Oil Limited formally commencing operations in 2005.
The EFCC recovery comes as the commission continues to intervene in financial disputes and alleged irregularities within Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
In a separate development, the EFCC recently facilitated the recovery of $60 million from indigenous oil and gas company Nestoil Limited, with the funds paid to a consortium of lenders as part of efforts to address the company’s outstanding indebtedness.
The consortium includes Access Bank, Zenith Bank, Ecobank, Afreximbank, First Bank of Nigeria, First City Monument Bank, United Bank for Africa and Union Bank.
The lenders said in June 2026 that Nestoil’s total indebtedness had risen to approximately $1.084 billion and N469.43 billion, maintaining that the obligations remained outstanding despite attempts to restructure the facilities.
