The Nigerian Navy has frustrated an attempted act of crude oil theft targeting oil wellhead in Bonny, Rivers State, reinforcing its commitment to safeguarding Nigeria’s strategic oil and gas assets in the Niger Delta.

Personnel of Forward Operating Base (FOB) Bonny, during patrols near the Renaissance African Energy Company Limited (RAECL), Oloma Flow Station, intercepted a fibre boat close to a wellhead under suspicious circumstances.

Naval Spokesman, Navy Capt. Abiodun Folorunsho, said in a statement that the occupants abandoned the boat and fled on sighting the patrol team.

According to Folorunsho, a search of the boat led to the recovery of equipment typically used for wellhead tampering and pipeline vandalism, including a portable generator, a cutting/grinding machine, chisels, spanners, cutlasses, and other accessories. The items are believed to have been assembled to compromise the wellhead and siphon crude oil.

He said follow-up operations, carried out with other security agencies, resulted in the arrest of one suspect connected to the attempted sabotage, while efforts continue to apprehend others involved in the criminal network. “The recovered fibre boat has been secured for further investigation,” he said.

The Naval spokesman said the operation prevented the attack on the critical oil infrastructure, denying the criminal elements the opportunity to inflict economic losses and environmental damage through acts of sabotage.

The Nigerian Navy, he said, remains committed to intelligence-led operations under Operation Delta Sentinel (OPDS) to protect critical national assets, combat crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, and deny economic saboteurs freedom of action within Nigeria’s maritime domain.