The Nigerian Navy said it has intercepted a vessel and arrested 22 suspects over alleged crude oil theft in Akassa River in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
In a statement, the Commander of the Nigerian Navy ship, Soroh, Commodore Patrick Effah, said the vessel was found carrying about 700,000 litres, which are about 4,402 barrels of illegally sourced crude oil worth over $315,500 (N148, 281,000) without the requisite approval for such cargo.
He explained that further investigations into the development uncovered the source of the crude oil, as he noted that relevant oil companies have been notified.
According to him, “I must add that the Navy went further to identify the source of the stolen crude and was led to the spot where about 4 dug out pits containing an unspecified quantity of crude oil was discovered which is much more than what was found on the vessel.
“The discovered storage pit has been reported to the relevant Oil and Gas Company for evacuation. The arrest is one of the numerous successes recorded by the Nigerian Navy in its ongoing Operation QUITEWATERS aimed at dominating Nigeria’s Maritime Environment towards creating deterrence in order to create a secure maritime environment for economic activities to strive.”
Effah explained that in line with the Chief of the Naval Staff’s Strategic Directives to curb all forms of maritime crimes within the nation’s waters, the NNS SOROH has been relentless in identifying and arresting perpetrators of crude oil theft, illegal bunkering and other maritime crimes.
He maintained that the Nigerian Navy remains unwavering in its drive to rid the nation’s maritime environment of all forms of criminalities.
“I must add that the arrest of MT TIS IV is one of a series of arrests recently made by the Nigerian Navy. Accordingly, let me seize this opportunity to warn miscreants and intending economic saboteurs to desist from acts of criminality as they have no hiding place and will be caught.
“Note that the Maritime Domain Awareness facilities of the Nigerian Navy is well equipped to detect and flag vessels engaged in all forms of maritime crimes within Nigerian waters and beyond. While warning criminals, I want to also thank other security agencies and stakeholders more especially the Chief of Defence Staff through Operation Delta Safe and the Chief of the Naval Staff for the support given to the Base to enhance her operations.
“On a final note, let me reiterate that the Nigerian Navy remains unwavering in its drive to curb all forms of criminalities within Nigeria’s Maritime Environment,” he stated.
