The Nigerian Navy has reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining zero tolerance for oil theft, illegal refining, and all forms of economic sabotage.
Commodore Abdulazeez Zubairu of the Nigerian Navy Ship, NNS Delta gave this assurance when a major illegal oil refining site was uncovered and destroyed in Delta State.
He commended the tactical deployment of 14 naval personnel aboard two gunboats and one speedboat under the command’s directive.
He said, “Acting on credible intelligence, the operatives advanced to coordinates 5.381734⁰N and 5.587105⁰E deep within the mangrove creeks of Obotebe community, Burutu Local Government Area where they discovered a large-scale crude oil processing dump site.”
According to him, the illegal refining camp, believed to be one of many operated by oil thieves in the area, was dismantled and destroyed on the spot.
Zubairu noted that the successful raid was in line with Operation Delta Sanity II, a strategic anti-crude oil theft mission initiated by the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla.
“This latest operation reflects our ongoing efforts to enforce maritime security and protect national assets.
“The era of unchecked crude oil theft is over. We are dismantling these criminal networks one site at a time.
“Items recovered from the site included one 1.5 horsepower Yamaha engine, one generator, six pumping machines, two rolls of industrial hoses,” Zubairu said.
He called on host communities to support the Navy’s operations by rejecting oil theft and providing timely intelligence to security agencies, as part of the renewed offensive against crude oil theft and environmental degradation in the Niger Delta.
“Photographs and videos of the destroyed site have been captured for documentation and further surveillance is ongoing to apprehend those behind the illegal activities.
“With this development, the Nigerian Navy continues to tighten its grip on criminal elements sabotaging Nigeria’s oil infrastructure in the region,” Zubairu maintained.
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