The Nigeria Army, under the 82 Division, on Thursday, destroyed over 33 illegal refineries in Obuaku and Imo Rivers in the Ipu West communities of Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State.
During the operation codenamed “Operation Dragon Spit” supervised by the General Officer Commanding, 82 Division, Enugu, Major General Hassan Dada, over 33 refineries were destroyed, 21 suspects were arrested and siz vehicles as well as over 12 boats were burnt.
Speaking with newsmen, Dada said, “What we discovered here is unbelievable compared to what we discovered at Obuaku last time. That of Obuaku is a child’s play when compared with what we saw today.
“We have counted over 30 of these illegal refineries and we are still counting. This is just a phase of our Operation Dragon Spit. We are still monitoring and the operation is still continuing.
“All I am assuring is that for anybody who is an economic saboteur, it is just a matter of time to face the consequences.
In as much as Operation Dragon Spit, under the auspices of Operation Udoka, is going on, we will not relent in our efforts to make sure that all the culprits are brought to book.
“We cannot, as we have been mandated, allow this amount of economic sabotage and degradation of the environment. No stone will be left unturned to make sure that oil bunkering will not be allowed within the area of responsibility of Operation Udoka.”
He added that between Wednesday and Thursday, “We burnt six vehicles and we arrested about 18 people and when we got to this place (today), we arrested another three while others ran into the Imo River. The operation is ongoing. In another village, you will see the number of boats that we seized. We have another 12 boats.”
According to him, at the Imo River community of Ipu West of Ukwa West LGA, a bus and the more than 12 boats used for illegal bunkering were burnt to discourage the operators of the illegal refineries.