Army recovers 5m litres of stolen crude oil in Rivers

The Nigerian Army has seized about 5 million litres of stolen crude oil worth billions of naira in Rivers State.

The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 6 Division, Nigeria Army, Port Harcourt, Maj.-Gen. Jamaal Abdussalam, led journalists to the location of the seized petroleum product in the Oyibo area of the state on Wednesday.

He said the seizure followed the discovery of an illegal refining site in a dense forest at Kom-Kom community in Oyibo.

The officer said: “In continuation of our ongoing operations to dismantle all illegal refineries and illegal (pipeline) connections, on January 31, we received credible intelligence about the activities of oil thieves in Oyibo.

“Upon receiving the intelligence report, troops were deployed and they raided the location (illegal refinery).

“At first, I thought we would not find anything considering the last raid we carried out in Odagwa, but we discovered massive illegal bunkering activities taking place there.”

Abdussalam stressed that the discovery of the site was a significant breakthrough in the Federal Government’s efforts to rid the country of oil thieves and economic saboteurs.

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“During the raid on the illegal facility, we discovered over 15 boilers and nine reservoirs containing over 5 million litres of stolen crude oil reserved for processing.

“On our way here, we also found five large foreign (Cotonou) boats filled with 200 to 300 litres of crude oil each along the Imo River leading to the forest.

“It is sad that these illegal activities have continued despite efforts to curb them. However, we will persist until we bring an end to the menace,” he added.

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