Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets have destroyed an illegal refinery sites at Dariama Village, in Abonnema, South West Port Harcourt, Rivers State in a renewed effort to halt oil thefts in Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
The illicit refinery also ‘housed’ dozen tanks and reservoirs which store stolen crude oil for criminals, sources said at the weekend.
Source knowledgeable on the latest bombardments at the Rivers’ illegal refinery site disclosed that the Air Component of Operation Delta Safe carried the attacks and have sustained the onslaughts against crude oil thieves, in the past weeks.
“Lwatest airstrike, which was intelligence-driven, took out an illegal oil refining site situated at Dariama Village, a locality about 20 Kilometers South west of Abonnema and 50 Kilometers South west of Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
“It is important to note that this illegal site was observed to be active with tanks and reservoirs filled with suspected illegally-refined products.
The judge reaffirms the commitment of the Armed Forces of Nigeria towards eradicating the activities of oil thieves and illegal oil bunkers in the region.
“With the appointment of the new Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Hassan Abubakar, NAF has sustained aggressive and precision military offensives in various theatre operations.
The operations are inspired by credible intelligence to ensure accuracy of the strikes,” the source said.
Just two weeks ago, the Air Component of Operation Delta Safe conducted several air interdictions in attempts to degrade and restrict activities of oil theft.
Notable among them , were successful air bombardments on July 10 and July 11, at Samkri and Elem Kalabari respectively . The notorious illegal site were engulfed in flames after it was hit with rockets .