By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Navy has destroyed an illegal refinery with the capacity to produce over two million litres of Automotive Gasoline Oil (AGO), also known as diesel and other petroleum products per day, along the Isaka/Ogoloma River in Rivers State.
The exercise conducted by operatives of the Nigerian Navy Ship Pathfinder saw to the destruction of over 500 crude oil cooking drums using swamp buggy in line with the directive of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, to stamp out oil theft and clear all illegal refining sites in the Niger Delta.
The suspected oil thieves had also constructed a pipeline into a nearby oil wellhead operated by Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, where they siphoned crude oil for illegal refining activities.
Speaking on the development, the Commander of NNS Pathfinder, Commodore Cajethan Nnabuchi Aniaku, said the massive illegal refining site, which was uncovered after a sustained intelligence and surveillance effort, uses drums to refine stolen crude oil into AGO and other by-products, a tactic that offers the oil thieves an advantage due to the ease of construction and dismantling of the drums.
He explained that the operation, which is still ongoing, has already destroyed over 500 cooking drums, numerous dug-out pits and ovens capable of producing more than 2 million litres of illegally refined petroleum products daily.
The NNS Pathfinder boss warned oil thieves and operators of illegal refineries to desist forthwith, as the navy will not rest on its oars in safeguarding the nation’s critical infrastructure.
“In line with the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla’s directive to clear all illegal refining sites, this afternoon we are around the Ogoloma area where we discovered a massive Illegal refining site, our personnel moved in here yesterday with swamp buggy.
“What we found out is quite striking in the sense that the oil thieves have moved away from using large metal pans to refine stolen crude oil to AGOs and other by-products, they are now using drums to do the refining and that offered them some tactical advantage in the sense that these drums are cheaper to construct and very easy to dismantle.
“The operation is still ongoing and this site is capable of producing 2 million litres of illegally refined AGO and other products on a daily basis, that is why we will not rest on our oars to see that we destroy these illegal refining sites appropriately.
“It took us over five days of intelligence and surveillance effort, because ordinarily if it were those large metal drums; with the use of drones and surveillance patrol we would be able to discover that. But now they are using drums to do the cooking, and then dismantle the drums and hide them.
“So, we have to double our efforts to see that we are able to fish them out and clear all illegal refining sites,” the naval officer stated.
Modupe Gbadeyanka