Military destroys 23 illegal refineries, arrests 42 suspected oil thieves in Niger Delta

Troops of Operation Delta Safe have destroyed 23 illegal refining sites and arrested 42 suspected oil thieves in the Niger Delta in the last two weeks.

The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Musa Danmadami, disclosed this at the bi-weekly news briefing on the operations of the armed forces on Thursday in Abuja.

He said: “Troops also conducted patrols and buggy operations in the zone during which several illegal refineries, storage tanks, wooden boats, coking ovens, dug out pits were destroyed.

“Cumulatively, within the two weeks in review, troops discovered and destroyed 23 illegal refining sites, 87 wooden boats, seven speed boats, 284 storage tanks, 160 coking ovens, three fibre boats and 18 dugout pits.

Read also:Troops eliminate six Boko Haram/ISWAP commanders

“Troops also recovered 2.5 litres of crude oil, 133,824 litres of diesel and 7,000 litres of kerosene.

“Also recovered were 16 tankers, one vessel, eight pumping machines, and two motorcycles.

“Forty-two criminals were arrested during the operations.

“All recovered items and apprehended criminals were handed over to the appropriate authorities for further action.”

The defence spokesman added that troops have continued to sustain aggressive patrols to curb crude oil theft and illegal bunkering within the Nigerian maritime environment.

He said troops also nabbed three suspected oil thieves who were tracked and monitored to Adige, Urhiakpa and Mission Road in the Sapele Local Government Area of Delta on October 6.

“This took place during the execution of Operation Octopus Grip.

Danmadami added: “The troops also impounded a vessel, MT DEIMA, with the capacity to hold 1500 tonnes of crude oil for illegal bunkering at the Sara area of Escravos Channel on October 7. The troops arrested the vessel’s eight crew members.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now