The Commander of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Delta, Commodore Aliyu Sule, on Thursday said 12 illegal refineries were destroyed in Egbokodo and Kantu communities of Delta, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
"Two of the illegal refineries were destroyed in Egbokodo while others were ruined in Kantu’’, Sule said.
Egbokodo and Kantu communities are in Warri South and Warri South/West Local Government Areas of Delta State respectively
Sule added that the command would continue to checkmate perpetrators of illegal bunkering until the criminal act was completely eradicated.
"I understand that place is full of illegal refineries, that what we have just done was a tip of the iceberg, so we will not stop as long as they don’t stop’’, he said.
"In Kantu forest, we destroyed 10 illegal refineries and I understand there are more, so, we are going back to the place to destroy them".
The commander said intelligence gathering was very vital in winning the war against oil theft, urging the public to always supply his personnel with useful information to stop the illegal bunkering in the state.
Sule, who decried the ecological effect of the illicit trade on the environment, said that destruction of the ill-gotten products was part of their regulations.
"We will carry out our mandate such that our environment and the people are winners against oil thieves’’, Sule said.
Two pumping machines, five tents and over 20 metallic and plastic drums filled with illegally refined diesel and petrol were also destroyed in Kantu.
Sule said the command on Wednesday showed newsmen four middle-aged men, who are suspected marketers of illegally-refined crude oil apprehended at the old Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) in Warri.
"They were alleged to have been in possession of 33 drums and 254 jerry cans filled with diesel and other products.
"We will hand them over to the relevant authority for prosecution as soon as investigation is concluded’’, he said. (NAN)
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