Military destroys 39 illegal refineries, arrest oil thieves

Operation Delta Safe troops, in the last two weeks, destroyed 39 illegal oil refining sites in the South-South.

Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Musa Danmadami, confirmed this at a news briefing on Thursday in Abuja.

Troops of Operation Octopus Grip and other operations also destroyed 48 cooking ovens, 103 storage tanks, 27 dugout pits and 33 wooden boats.

The soldiers recovered one tug boat, a barge, three pumping machines, three speed boats and 13 vehicles.

About 274,000 litres of crude oil, 71,000 litres of Automotive Gas Oil, 15 AK-47 rifles were recovered and 40 suspected economic saboteurs arrested.

All seized items and the suspects have been handed over to the appropriate authority for further action.

Between January 12 and 24, the air component of Operation Delta Safe observed illegal refining sites and creeks at Gogokiri Degema and Okrika Local Government Areas in Rivers State.

“Targets were engaged with weapons and the locations were observed to have exploded in an inferno while the illegal refining equipment’s were also destroyed,” Danmadami said.

In the South-East, the military and other agencies sustained the offensive against the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and Eastern Security Network, ESN.

Troops neutralised six fighters, arrested 24 and rescued 16 abducted civilians.

Arms and ammunition, including AK47 rifles, pump action rifles, IEDs, locally made explosive pipes, among others were recovered.