The Nigerian Army’s 6 Division has announced the arrest of 17 suspected oil thieves and the destruction of nine illegal refining sites during a recent crackdown across the Niger Delta.
In a statement issued on Sunday night in Port Harcourt, the Acting Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, Lt. Col. Jonah Danjuma, said troops recovered more than 45,000 litres of stolen petroleum products during the 12-day operation conducted in collaboration with other security agencies.
Danjuma explained that the raids, carried out between September 8 and 20, targeted black spots used by economic saboteurs. He noted that in Delta State, troops discovered a storage facility at Ogwu community, Warri South LGA, containing over 20,000 litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), a 20,000-litre tanker truck with 10,000 litres of illegally refined fuel, as well as pumping and metering machines.
Similar successes were recorded in Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom States, where illegal refining sites, vehicles, boats, and other equipment used for crude oil theft were intercepted or destroyed. Danjuma added that the operation has significantly disrupted oil theft networks and denied criminals the freedom to operate across the region.
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