Oil Theft: JTF arrests 6 persons, destroys 31 illegal refineries

J‎ethro Ibileke/Niger Delta

Seven suspected oil thieves have been arrested by the special squad of the anti-illegal oil bunkering of the Joint Task Force, Operation PULO SHIELD.

The JTF also intercepted and arrested an illegal oil bunkering tugboat, MV Tobester, loaded with suspected illegally refine Automated Gas Oil (AGO), along Tonmogbene area in Warri South West LGA of Delta State.

Captain of the tugboat, Akinfemiwa Bojo and the Engineer, Mr Solomon Ogunlona, were also arrested and handed over to Sector 2 JTF, for preliminary investigation, while the vessel is anchored at the Nigeria Port Authority (NPA) in Warri.

The troops also discovered an illegal oil bunkering hose connected to Nigeria Petroleum Development Corporation (NPDC), with two Cotonou boats filled with suspected stolen crude oil. The items were destroyed in situ in line with the mandate of the Task Force.

Thirteen illegal oil distillery camps were also destroyed around Gbarum Market in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State where oil thieves operate with plastic tanks filled with suspected illegally acquired crude oil. The sites and the equipments were destroyed along with the trucks and products.

Other items discovered includes 32 plastic tankers with capacity of 200 liters each, filled with substance suspected to be stolen crude oil siphoned from an oil well head.

In the Sector 2 axis, JTF troops patrolling along Igbemotoru area destroyed 18 illegal crude oil refineries where oil thieves operates with 7 Cotonou boats filled with stolen AGO and 13 illegal storing facilities.

Acccording to a press statement issued and signed by the Media Coordinator of Operation Pulo Shield, Lt. Col. Mustapha Anka, the suspects who operate a truck containing 160 drums of stolen oil were arrested along Nonwa Tai road‎.

The truck was destroyed while the suspects were handed over to the JTF for further investigation.

The press statement said the JTF, in collaboration with other relevant security agencies, is intensifying efforts against piracy and other oil-related crimes on the waterways of the Niger Delta region.