The Nigerian Navy has recorded further operational successes under Operation DELTA SENTINEL since intensifying its crackdown on crude oil theft and other illegal activities in the Niger Delta region.
In a separate operation, personnel of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) PATHFINDER and Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) SOROH disrupted illegal oil refining activities and arrested suspected illegal miners in Rivers and Bayelsa States, respectively.
A statement signed by Captain (Nigerian Navy) AA Folorunsho , Director of Naval Information stated that an Anti-Crude Oil Theft (Anti-COT) patrol team from NNS PATHFINDER around the Ojekiri general area in Rivers State, discovered the illegal refinery site along the Alakiri River containing about 10 dugout pits cumulatively laden with approximately 45,000 litres of stolen crude oil.
The site and the stored crude oil were subsequently destroyed in accordance with extant operational procedures, while the suspected perpetrators fled the scene upon sighting the naval personnel.
In a related development, a patrol team from NNS SOROH, acting on credible intelligence and in compliance with the Bayelsa State Government’s directive prohibiting black sand mining, arrested 37 suspected illegal miners at Anyama Jetty in Yenagoa. The suspects were apprehended while attempting to transfer an unspecified quantity of black sand from a wooden boat into two trucks waiting at the jetty.
The arrested suspects, along with the trucks, the wooden boat, and the recovered mineral resources, were subsequently handed over to Operation DOO-AKPO, the Bayelsa State security outfit, for further investigation.
These operational successes have coincided with the directive of the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, for naval formations and units to intensify operations against crude oil theft, illegal bunkering and other forms of economic sabotage across Nigeria’s maritime environment. The Nigerian Navy is committed to sustaining the momentum of Operation DELTA SENTINEL, leveraging intelligence and technology to drive operations to safeguard Nigeria’s critical national assets and economic interests in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.