Nigerian Navy in Yenagoa has forayed into six illegal refineries, operated by suspected oil thieves at Bilabiri Community in the Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), some two million liters of illegally refined diesel along with over one million substances suspected to be crude were seized during the raid.
Speaking shortly after the seizure, the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Rear Adm. Apochi Suleiman, said the illegal camps were discovered on Wednesday through intelligence gathering.
He said the illegal operation covered an area of over 100 hectares dotted with stolen products in Bilabiri Community.
Suleiman said the command had deployed a combined team from Delta and Bayelsa, to ensure daily patrol of camps.
The command, according to him, six wooden boats laden with diesel, used by oil thieves to transport illegally refined products to the high sea.
The FOC was accompanied by the Deputy Command Operations, Capt. Mustapha Hassan, and other officers and men.
He said that destroying the products would cause huge environmental hazard in the area.
According to him, the command has adopted zero tolerance on cued oil thrifts and pipeline vandalism, advising the oil thieves and vandals to desist from criminality in their own interest.
“The command has declared zero tolerance for any form of criminality in the region and anybody caught in the act will be seriously dealt with,” Suileman said
