Military destroys 107 illegal refineries in Niger Delta

The Defense Headquarters said Operation Delta Safe (OPDS) forces have discovered and destroyed 107 illegal petroleum product refining sites in the Niger Delta in the last two weeks.

The Director, Defense Media Operations, Musa Danmadami, a major general, made the declaration at a weekly news briefing on armed forces operations on Thursday in Abuja.

Mr. Danmadami said the force is continuing to fight against oil theft, illegal refining and other criminal activities in the Niger Delta through aggressive patrols, raids and clearance operations among other strategies.

He said the operation was carried out in rivers, waterways, in the sea, towns and cities of Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers, Cross River and Akwa Ibom with significant results.

“The forces in Operation Octopus Grip and Operation Dakatar Da Barawo discovered and destroyed 107 illegal distillery locations, 140 storage tanks, 58 reservoirs, 151 ovens, 68 caves and 22 ships.

“The troops secured 561,200 liters of crude oil, 119,000 liters of diesel fuel, one fiber vessel, five pump engines, two outboard engines, 10 giant plastic tanks, one rickshaw and six vehicles while arresting nine suspected criminals.

“All the recovered items and the arrested suspects have been handed over to the appropriate authorities for further action,” he said.

Mr. Danmadami said troops responded to reports of election disturbances in Ogbakiri community in Emohua Local Government Area on March 19 and arrested 12 armed thugs.

He said the response resulted in the recovery of four AK47 rifles, one FN rifle, four AK47 magazines, one pistol loaded with two rounds of 9mm ammunition, one pump action gun, four cartridges, 16 rounds of 7.62mm special and one Hilux vehicle.

Mr. Danmadami said in the South-East geopolitical zone, the forces of the Joint Task Force, “Operation Udo Ka”, neutralized seven members of the Indigenous People of Biafra/Eastern Security Network (IPOB/ESN) criminals and arrested 32 people.

He said the army also recovered five AK47 rifles, 29 pump action rifles, three Dane rifles, four locally made pistols, one double barreled rifle, two rounds of 9mm ammunition, 188 rounds of 7.62mm special and 46 blank rounds of ammunition.

Also found were seven live cartridges, three magazines, four radios, 16 machetes, three knives, 14 motorcycles, one vehicle, five mobile phones and several pairs of uniforms and boots.

“All the recovered items and the arrested suspects have been handed over to the appropriate authorities for further action,” he said.

Also read: Nigerian military shut down more than 70 illegal refineries in two weeks

Mr. Danmadami said that Operation AWATSE forces continue to surround criminal elements in the general area of ​​operations in the southwest.

He said the troops, together with NDLEA operatives, attacked Awoyaya and General Paints Ajah areas in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of ​​Lagos State on March 10.

They arrested 14 suspects and recovered 5kg of Indian hemp, 7kg of other illegal drugs, seven bottles of codeine, 6gm of tramadol, 5gm of methamphetamine and N3,250 during the operation.

He said the force also arrested seven armed thugs who were trying to disrupt the March 18 election in the zone.

“The forces recovered four AK47 rifles, three jack knives, one cartridge rifle, three mobile phones, one cutlass and 350 sachets of Indian hemp from the thugs,” Mr. Danmadami said.

(AT)