Nigerian troops seize 13 ships conveying crude oil, arrest 567 suspects in Delta — Commander
Twenty-five suspected oil thieves handed over to the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, by the Nigerian Navy, Forward Operating Base, Bonny Island, Rivers State, are being quizzed for their alleged involvement in illegal oil bunkering.
The Joint Task Force, JTF, Operation Delta Safe, said it seized 13 ships laden with crude oil and arrested 567 suspected oil thieves in the South-South in 2021.
Rear Admiral Aminu Hassan, the Commander, JTF, said this at a news conference on Friday in Yenogoa.
Hassan said following a new approach adopted by the JTF, nine barges were seized during the year.
He also said 1,423 illegal refining sites with over 4,929 storage facilities were destroyed in the period under review.
The Commander said 536 large wooden boats laden with illegally refined products and crude oil and 137 trucks used for conveying illegally refined product were seized.
Hassan also said 40 million litres of crude oil and 67 million litres of illegally refined products, mainly diesel, were recovered from oil thieves and pipeline vandals.
He said the JTF raided and destroyed 51 militants/pirates camps, while 153 assorted weapons and ammunition of various calibres were recovered.
The commander explained that while the Nigerian Navy tackled piracy on the high seas within Nigeria’s territorial waters, the JTF did same in the backwaters.
He said the development had drastically reduced maritime crimes in 2021.
Quoting from the International Maritime Bureau, he said piracy cases dropped from 46 recorded in October 2020 to 28 in October 2021, adding that only four cases were linked to Nigeria.
The Commander said the JTF utilised non-kinetic conflict resolution method leading to the resolution of 54 cases between oil firms and their host communities.
Hassan attributed the feat achieved by the JTF in the period to the support given by the Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Lucky Irabor and other Service Chiefs.
