In continuation of its war against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta region, the Nigerian Navy (NN) yesterday said it destroyed over 50 illegal refineries in the past 32 days around Yeye, Burutu and Ibafa creeks in Delta State.
The operatives attached to the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Delta also arrested six ships – MT AYSU, MT INTERIM, MV MAMA ELIZABETH, MT MIRACLE, MV NIPAL and SD WATERMAN – as well as 80 wooden boats used by criminals for bunkering of petroleum products siphoned from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines and crude oil well heads in six months.
The Commander of NNS DELTA, Commodore Ibrahim Dewu, spoke during an educational tour by select journalists to some naval operational bases in the Niger Delta.
The Nation reports that Defence correspondents picked from Lagos and Abuja were taken into the creeks around Warri where the criminals operate a well-coordinated but crude distillation processes.
Our correspondent observed scores of 10,000-litre metal tanks in one of the camps at Benett Island spanning about seven acres of land.
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The destruction of the illegal refineries was done with the use of swam buggies, an excavator used in swampy areas to crush metallic substances and render them unusable, thereby avoiding further pollution of the land and surrounding water.
It was also gathered that the navy identified over 900 illegal refinery camps within NNS DELTA’s area of operation (AOO) with the bulk of it located around Ughelli and Warri South local government areas.
According to Commodore Dewu, several persons have been arrested for various maritime offences and handed over to prosecutorial agencies, while the vessels were kept in trust for the agencies, in line with the Harmonised Standard Operation Procedure (HSOP).
Decrying the delay in prosecuting the cases, the commander noted that it was costing the Navy so much money to maintain the vessels to avoid their going aground.