Airstrikes by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircrafts have destroyed 70 illegal refineries and 80 overhead tanks in the past three months.
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar, said this on Wednesday, July 31, when he played host to the National Coordinator of Messrs New Guard Security and Consulting Limited, Maj-Gen Jamil Sarham (rtd), at the NAF Headquarters, Abuja.
Speaking on the current state of oil production in Nigeria, Air Marshal Abubakar emphasised the severe negative impact of oil theft and pipeline vandalism on Nigeria’s oil output, which he said have led to a decline in crude oil production and revenue losses to the country.
Air Marshal Abubakar said it was in response to these that President Bola Tinubu mandated the military to eradicate the scourge.
He said: “Over the past year, the NAF has conducted 463 sorties in 560 flight hours and expended 175,000 litres of Jet A-1 fuel in air operations over the Niger Delta region.”
The air chief said in bolstering these efforts, the NAF had deployed newly acquired platforms to the region to enable the NAF to “cover more grounds as it liaises with other security agencies in degrading the activities of these criminals in the region.”
He congratulated General Sarham and his team on their appointment, adding that the team’s exceptional military background and their synergy with security agencies in addressing the challenges of crude oil theft would add bite to the ongoing efforts.
