The Nigerian Navy has uncovered an illegal petroleum products dump in Bonny, Rivers State, seizing 105,450 litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and several bunkering equipment.

Eight suspects arrested in connection with the site have been handed over to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further investigation and prosecution.

The Operations Officer of the Forward Operating Base (FOB) Bonny, Lieutenant Commander Sirajo Almustapha, said the clearance operation, carried out on Monday, August 18, 2025, in the Ama-Omu community, was in line with the directive of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, to curb crude oil theft, illegal bunkering, and kidnapping in the area.

According to him, the anti-illegal refining team discovered a wooden boat at a jetty behind a building, laden with seven tanks of 5,000 litres each filled with AGO. Further checks revealed three sheds and four rooms within the compound stocked with tanks and drums of different sizes. The cache included six Geepee plastic tanks of 10,000 litres, 18 of 5,000 litres, 138 of 300 litres, three surface pumping machines, one air pressure machine, three metering machines, and several hoses and valves.

Other recovered items were five walkie-talkies, mobile phones, uniforms, identity cards, ATM cards, charms, suspected marijuana, and documents. Almustapha warned that the storage of large volumes of AGO in a residential area and the presence of high-tension cables posed a severe fire hazard.

He stressed that such activities contravened the Miscellaneous Offences Act of 2004 and the Petroleum Act, noting that offenders risk imprisonment of up to five years or fines of N20 million, while unlicensed bunkering attracts a $1 million penalty.