Personnel of the Nigerian Navy have uncovered a large illegal refining site in Rivers State where 114,500 litres of suspected stolen petroleum products were recovered, but the suspected operators escaped before they could be arrested.
The Director of Naval Information, Captain Abiodun Folorunsho, said the operation was carried out on Thursday, October 15, under Operation DELTA SENTINEL, the Navy’s ongoing crackdown on crude oil theft and illegal refining in the Niger Delta.
He said personnel of Nigerian Navy Ship SOROH raided the site at Orashi Forest in Ogbogolo community, Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State, after acting on credible intelligence.
According to the Navy, the illegal refining site contained 23 dugout pits. Five of the pits held about 105,000 litres of suspected illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), popularly known as diesel, while the remaining 18 pits contained about 9,500 litres of suspected stolen crude oil.
Although no suspect was arrested at the Rivers site, the Navy said the recovered products were secured and handled in line with established procedures.
In a separate operation on the same day, naval personnel, working with officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), arrested 10 suspects at 27 Deco Road in Warri, Delta State.
The Navy did not reveal the identities of the suspects or the offences for which they were arrested.
It said the two operations underscore its determination to sustain the fight against crude oil theft, illegal refining and other criminal activities threatening the Niger Delta.