The Nigerian Navy has intensified its crackdown on crude oil theft and illegal mining activities in the Niger Delta, leading to the destruction of an illegal refinery site and the arrest of dozens of suspects during separate operations in Rivers and Bayelsa states.
The operations were conducted by personnel attached to the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder and Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Soroh as part of the Navy’s ongoing anti-crude oil theft campaign, Operation Delta Sentinel.
In Rivers State, naval operatives from NNS Pathfinder uncovered an illegal refining facility during a routine patrol around the Ojekiri general area.
The makeshift refinery, located along the Alakiri River, was found to contain about 10 dugout pits filled with an estimated 45,000 litres of suspected stolen crude oil.
According to the Navy, the illegal installation and the stored crude were destroyed in accordance with established operational procedures. The suspected operators reportedly fled the area on sighting the approaching naval personnel.
In a separate development in Bayelsa State, a patrol team from NNS Soroh apprehended 37 individuals suspected to be involved in illegal mining activities at Anyama Jetty in Yenagoa following intelligence reports.
The suspects were allegedly caught attempting to offload an unspecified quantity of black sand from a wooden boat into two trucks stationed at the jetty.
Naval authorities said the suspects, along with the trucks, wooden boat and the recovered mineral resources, were subsequently handed over to Operation DOO-AKPO, a security outfit established by the Bayelsa State Government, for further investigation and necessary action.
The Navy explained that the operations are in line with directives issued by the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, mandating naval formations to step up efforts to combat crude oil theft, illegal bunkering and other acts of economic sabotage within the country’s maritime domain.
It added that the service remains determined to sustain the ongoing anti-crime operations through enhanced intelligence gathering and the deployment of modern technology to protect Nigeria’s critical national assets and safeguard economic interests.
