The Nigerian Navy has arrested six oil thieves and destroyed some illegal refineries in Bayelsa State.
The oil thieves were arrested during operations conducted by troops of Operation Delta Sanity from August 29 and September 2.
Navy’s spokesman, Commodore Aiwuyor Aliu-Adams, announced this in a statement on Wednesday, September 4.
He said the troops also recovered large quality of petroleum product during the operations.
Giving details of the operations that culminated in the troops’ successes, Commodore Aliu-Adams said on August 29, troops seized seven large Cotonou and two fibre boats operated by heavily armed oil thieves loading crude oil from an illegal loading point around the Botokiri axis of Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
He said: “On August 31, troops arrested six suspected crude oil thieves and seized 109 sacks of illegally refined petroleum products, four fibre boats, and two wooden boats, along Ogboinbiri-Kasama-Azama-Isoni of the state.
The Navy’s spokesman said the successes of the operations were an indication of the “effectiveness of Operation DELTA SANITY, and the resolve of the Nigerian Navy to sustain current efforts to rid Nigeria’s maritime environment of the menace of crude oil theft and enhance crude oil production.”
