By Mokwugwo Solomon
A prominent edible oil production company in Onitsha, Anambra State, Transtell Ventures Nigeria Limited (the makers of VINO refined palm olein and VISOLA refined palm kernel oil) has debunked the allegation that the company deals illegally in the procurement, refining and sale of petroleum products.
The General Manager (Operations) in the company, Mr. Obinna Okorie, gave that clarification on Saturday, November 30, 2025, when newsmen visited the facility located at N0.20 GMO Road, Off Atani Road, Habour Industrial Layout near Onitsha, Anambra State.
It will be recalled that a Joint Task Force invaded the facility on June 18, 2025, on the allegation that the company procures crude oil illegally, refines same and sells.
But on Saturday, when the General Manager conducted newsmen round the facility, he described the claims that the company deals on illegal petroleum products as “a lie from the pit of hell,” saying that the invaders only wanted to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
He said, “In June this year, specifically June 18th, a joint task force invaded our company, claiming that they received a petition that we procure, refine and sell crude petroleum illegally. They forcefully broke into the company in a Gestapo-style, broke the keys to the entrance gate of the company and replaced them with their own keys and chased every staff of the company away.
“Till date, we have not seen the petition, and we have not seen the petitioner. They came the next day with tankers and started siphoning all our LPFO away, claiming that it was crude petroleum.
“We don’t have anything to do with bunkering or illegal procurment of crude petroleum. What the security agencies who invaded the company extracted, and tried to blackmail us with is what we call Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO), which we used as fuel in our Oil Boiler. The LPFO was procured legally from NNPC, and we have documents to support our claim.
“The LPFO fires the Oil Boiler to generate steam for production purposes. But the Oil Boiler got spoilt since 2015, and we resorted to DOC Boiler that uses palm kernel shell as fuel to generate steam. The use of the DOC Boiler with palm kernel shell is far cheaper than the use of Oil Boiler. That was why we dropped the use of Oil Boiler and did not make any efforts to repair the spoilt oil boiler that uses the LPFO.
“It was the remaining LPFO in our LPFO tank that they extracted, and tried to harass and blackmail us with. The people that came knew nothing about crude oil and refused to even look at all the documents we presented that showed convincingly that the LPFO was legally procured. If they followed due diligence, they would have realized that the product was LPFO legally procured from NNPC, and not crude petroleum.
“When they were conducting the search, due diligence was not followed. PPMC was not invited. NNPC was not involved, NSCDC was not invited, NUPENG was not invited, etc. They just came in and said they were acting on a petition.”
The GM who recounted homongous losses incurred by the company after the invasion including damages caused as a result of forceful shutting down of the vegetable oil refining and fractionation plants, said that as at the last count, the company lost quite over four hundred and fifty million naira (N450m) and still counting. He said that as a result of these losses, the company is still struggling to remain afloat to ensure that hundreds of workers who earn their livelihood from the company are not thrown back into the labour market.
He urged the general public to discountenance whatever negative news they must have read about the company, as they were the handiwork of enemies and detractors.
“We urge the general public to discountenance whatever negative news they must have read about our company. Transtell Ventures Nigeria Limited deals in well recognized edible oil – one of the best in Nigeria.
“Transtell is a known name in the production and sales of edible vegetable oils. We have reputable companies that we supply our products to, including Orange Drugs Limited, Chikason Industries Ltd, Tummy Tummy Foods Ltd, Daraju Industries Ltd, Nasco Foods Ltd, Aspira Products Ltd, etc. We supply vegetable oil to companies nationwide.
“Transtell Ventures is MANCAP certified. We’re certified by NAFDAC, NESREA and SON. We’re compliant with all regulatory bodies. So, whatever they did was a failed attempt to tarnish the reputation of our reputable company,” he clarified.
