Army continues crackdown on illegal refining site in Delta, Rivers

• Arrests eight suspects, seizes petroleum products

In an onslaught on oil thieves, troops of the 63 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, in conjunction with other security agencies, launched an operation yesterday against illegal refining sites in Delta and Rivers states.

Acting Deputy Director, 6 Division Army Public Relations, Lieutenant Colonel Danjuma Jonah Danjuma, revealed that the operation was conducted following credible intelligence on the “monumental level of criminality” in a location along the fringes of River Niger, bordering Ndokwa East and Ndoni Local Councils of Delta and Rivers states.

Danjuma said the crackdown yielded significant results, with the confiscation and destruction of eight cooking pots, three storage tanks, three massive storage dugouts, and 12 feeders. Others were three cooking drums, an extensive network of pipes and hoses, and about 2,000 litres of crude oil.

Danjuma also noted that troops seized two wooden boats loaded with over 10,000 litres of condensates, abandoned by fleeing criminals in the creeks.

He said the operation was part of the ongoing efforts to combat oil theft and illegal refining in the Niger Delta region under the mandate of Operation Delta Safe.