JTF reassures Nigerians of ending oil theft, other crimes

The Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta (Operation Pulo shield) on Sunday reassured Nigerians of its total commitment to ending oil theft and other criminal activities in the region.

The spokesperson of the JTF, Lt. Col. Musa Anka, made this known in an interview with NAN in Yenagoa. Anka said that the task force had made significant progress in combating oil thieves in the region.

“During our last operation, we discovered and destroyed a fabrication camp, where they construct metal storage tanks for stolen crude and illegally refined products in Burutu council area of Delta state.

“Several illegal refineries near the fabrication camp were also destroyed during the raid.”

Anka said that the task force also arrested five suspected oil thieves in other raids in Ethiope West Local Government Area in Delta and Ologbo, in Ikpobe-Okha Local Government Area of Edo.

According to him, the Commander of JTF, Maj-Gen. Emmanuel Atewe, has maintained a zero tolerance to illegal bunkering and all forms of criminal activity in the Niger Delta region.

“We have made a lot of progress under his leadership; we have taken the fight to the doorstep of the oil thieves and intensified our raids on their operations,” he stated.

Anka said that JTF troops intercepted a 33,000-litre-capacity truck loading crude oil illegally from a pipeline belonging to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) at Ologbo in Edo.

He said that the suspects fled the scene in a Cherokee Jeep on sighting the troops and later abandoned the vehicle, which was recovered by the troops.

The spokesperson disclosed that the truck and the Jeep were later set ablaze in line with the mandate of the task force.

He said that the task force also seized six boats laden with suspected stolen crude oil and Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) from Cotonou, Benin Republic.

According to Anka, the boats are being held at different locations in Ugbokodo Tigbeni and Ejere Creek in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta.

He said that JTF operatives patrolling the Ogutumbi-Andoni-Lagosgbere axis in Rivers and Bayelsa, respectively, apprehended eight persons in connection with a recent vandalism of a pipeline belonging to Agip in the area.

He said that the suspects were in custody of the task force for preliminary investigations, and would be handed over to the appropriate agency for prosecution as soon as the investigations were concluded.