Navy uncovers 40,000-litre illegal refinery in Rivers

The Nigerian Navy has uncovered an illegal refinery with a capacity of about 40,000 litres in Bonny Island, Rivers State, before it commenced full-scale crude oil processing.

The facility was discovered during a joint operation involving the Nigerian Navy and the Federal Government’s inter-agency task force on petroleum theft.

Speaking to journalists in Bonny on Friday, the Commanding Officer of the Navy Forward Operating Base (FOB), Bonny, Stanley Umeh, described the discovery as the biggest operation recorded by the base since he assumed command in March.

Umeh said naval gunboats transported operatives into the creeks, after which they trekked through dense vegetation before reaching the clandestine facility.

He said the operation was based on actionable intelligence developed through collaboration between the Navy and other security and law enforcement agencies.

According to him, the facility was different from many illegal refineries previously discovered in the area because it had not yet reached the stage where crude oil was being processed.

“Most times we go, we see illegal refineries with pits and crude deposited inside. Some have already cooked, and some are yet to be cooked. But this discovery is like nipping the act in the bud,” he said.

Umeh said the size and structure of the facility indicated that it was being prepared for large-scale crude oil theft and refining.

“This is their preparatory stage. You could see from the build-up and the set-up of the illegal refinery, it’s meant to be a very big one that would see the siphoning or stealing of crude and brought here for cooking in large quantity,” he said.

He described the discovery as a significant development in efforts to curb crude oil theft, saying the Navy would intensify surveillance and patrols across Bonny’s waterways and remote areas.

Also speaking, Omar Sini, Head of Investigation of the Special Prosecution Team of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Petroleum Theft, said the operation was the result of cooperation among intelligence, security and law enforcement agencies.

Sini said the task force, inaugurated by the Federal Government on March 1, 2025, was established to investigate and prosecute illicit activities in Nigeria’s hydrocarbon sector.

He said the task force had secured at least 137 convictions since its establishment, attributing the decline in illicit activities in the hydrocarbon sector partly to the prosecutions.

“We’ve been able to secure at least 137 convictions, and that is largely responsible for the drop in the illicit activities in the hydrocarbon sector,” Sini said.

The Navy said it would sustain operations against crude oil theft and illegal refining activities across the waterways and creeks in the Niger Delta.