The Nigerian Navy has made a significant breakthrough in the fight against illegal oil refining in the Niger Delta. In a recent operation along the Isaka/Ogoloma River in Rivers State, the Navy uncovered an illegal refinery capable of producing over two million liters of Automotive Gasoline Oil (AGO) daily. This operation, carried out by the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder, was in response to orders from the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, who has prioritized the eradication of oil theft and illegal refining activities in the region.
The operation involved the use of a swamp buggy to destroy more than 500 crude oil cooking drums, which were being used by the criminals to refine stolen crude oil. The illegal refinery had a pipeline connected to a nearby oil wellhead operated by Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, which the thieves exploited to siphon crude oil for their operations.
The discovery of this illegal site was the result of extensive intelligence gathering and surveillance efforts by the Navy. Commodore Cajethan Nnabuchi Aniaku, Commander of NNS Pathfinder, revealed that the oil thieves had adopted a new method of refining by using drums instead of the large metal pans typically employed in such illegal activities. According to him, this tactic offers the advantage of being easier to construct and dismantle, making it harder for authorities to detect and shut down these operations.
During the ongoing operation, the Navy has already destroyed over 500 drums, along with numerous dug-out pits and ovens, all of which had the capacity to produce millions of liters of illegally refined petroleum products each day. Commodore Aniaku issued a strong warning to those involved in these illicit activities, stressing that the Navy is fully committed to safeguarding the nation’s critical infrastructure and will continue to crack down on illegal refining sites.
“In line with the Chief of Naval Staff’s directive to clear all illegal refining sites, we discovered a massive illegal refining site in the Ogoloma area. Our personnel moved in with a swamp buggy and found that the oil thieves had shifted from using large metal pans to drums, which are cheaper and easier to hide. This operation is ongoing, and we will not relent in our efforts to destroy these illegal sites,” Commodore Aniaku stated.
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