Nigerian Navy says oil thieves behind malicious media campaign

The Nigerian Navy said it is being targeted with malicious media campaigns sponsored by criminals, desperate individuals and organisations behind crude oil theft in the country.

This was according to a statement by the Director of Naval Information, Rear Admiral Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, on Thursday in Abuja.

According to him, desperate individuals and organisations were sponsoring unsubstantiated reports in some mainstream media and online news platforms against the efforts of the navy to eradicate crude oil theft and other forms of illegality in the nation’s maritime domain.

He said it has been observed that their modus operandi includes sourcing the services of third-party agents and sectional egoists to discredit the reinvigorated stance of the Nigerian Navy in the fight against crude oil theft.

“Ordinarily, the Nigerian Navy would not have responded to such baseless assertions, but it has become necessary, to prevent gullible members of the public from being misinformed by the erroneous publications.

“Suffice to state that the Nigerian Navy, in the discharge of her statutory responsibilities as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, will continue to work tirelessly for the betterment of the nation’s maritime security,” he stated.