By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder has dismantled nine illegal refining sites in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, seizing over 170,000 litres of suspected stolen and illegally refined petroleum products.

This is the latest in a long series of efforts to curb oil theft hampering crude oil production and economic growth in Africa’s largest oil producer.

The operation, carried out yesterday (Wednesday) uncovered a sprawling network of criminal infrastructure, including 45 ovens, 30 reservoirs, and 75 dugout pits, according to Commodore Cajethan Nnabuchi Aniaku, Commander of NNS Pathfinder.

He revealed that the illegal sites were stocked with approximately 60,000 litres of suspected stolen crude oil, 80,000 litres of illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) known as diesel, and 33,000 litres of kerosene.

He said, “During the operation, the Tactical Riverine Assault Squadron Team acting on credible intelligence discovered two wellheads connected with pipes used for siphoning crude oil to illegal camps.

“The team dismantled the connected pipes to the wellheads and destroyed the illegal refining sites. The products were handled in accordance with anti-crude oil theft procedures,” he added.

The outfit could not make any arrests as the perpetrators fled on sighting the patrol team, the scale of the seizure underscores the magnitude of oil theft operations still active in the Niger Delta.

Commodore Aniaku praised the bravery and professionalism of the personnel involved and reaffirmed the Navy’s unwavering resolve to stamp out economic sabotage.

“Under the leadership of Vice Admiral E. I. Ogalla, the Nigerian Navy remains committed to combating crude oil theft and illegal bunkering activities which pose significant threats to the nation’s economy and energy security,” he stated.

The latest crackdown comes as the Navy intensifies its riverine operations across the oil-rich region, aligning with national efforts to boost crude production and plug revenue leakages caused by pipeline vandalism and illegal refining.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Brazilian state oil company, Petrobras, is seeking a return to Nigeria’s oil sector with a renewed focus on frontier deepwater exploration.

This came as part of efforts to strengthen ties between both countries.

In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, announced that the development came during an interministerial review meeting.

The meeting, chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, was held to prepare for the second session of the Nigeria-Brazil Strategic Dialogue Mechanism (SDM) in June 2025.

Petrobras, the equivalent of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, had previously wound down its Nigerian operations at the Agbami Field.

Now, with renewed economic reforms under President Bola Tinubu, the company is actively engaging the Nigerian authorities for fresh investment opportunities.

Speaking at the session, Vice President Shettima underscored the strategic importance of Nigeria’s relationship with Brazil, especially as Brazil prepares to host a series of global summits this year.

Providing further insight into Petrobras’ return, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Yusuf Tuggar, confirmed ongoing discussions with the state owned oil company.

“Apart from ethanol, which they are hoping to engage the NNPCL for blending, Petrobras is also being actively engaged, and we expect they will form part of the delegation to Nigeria,” Mr Tuggar said.

“Petrobras is no longer active in Nigeria, but they are very keen on coming back. They said they want frontier acreage in deep waters.”

Brazil is one of the leading crude oil producers in the world and the largest in Latin America, producing 3 million barrels of crude oil per day.

In addition, the country has proven oil reserves of over 12 billion barrels, primarily located offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.

Petrobras dominates the sector, especially in offshore exploration and production but has joint ventures with international oil companies such as Shell, TotalEnergies, Equinor, and Chevron.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Some electrical materials have been handed over to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to enable about 21 communities in Yewaland, Ogun State, to have power restored to them after three years of blackout, thanks to the Ibese plant of Dangote Cement Plc.

This gesture spurred traditional rulers from the affected towns to shower praises on the chairman of Dangote Cement Plc, Mr Aliko Dangote, for approving over N100 million for the procurement of the needed electrical items, which were handed to electricity distribution company for the area, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).

The Olu of Imasayi, Oba Lukman Kuoye, described the donation as the result of some positive engagements the management of Ibese Plant had with various interest groups especially the communities and the IBEDC on the way out of the protracted blackout.

“We thank God it is a reality today that we are on the way to getting reconnected to national grid after over three years in darkness. We want to thank Dangote Cement Ibese Plant for this development. We are not taking this for granted.

“Dangote Cement is the only transformer that is illuminating the Yewa communities and Ogun State in general with its CSR projects. The management did not even consider the IBEDC’s inertia but still went ahead to donate materials that are supposed to be provided by the distribution company,” he enthused.

On his part, the Aboro of Ibeseland, Oba Rotimi Mulero, thanked Dangote Cement and Mr Dangote for always rising to the task of helping the communities, saying the provision of the electrical materials would go a long way to further cement the existing cordial relationship between the company and the communities.

The monarch promised that the communities would do everything possible to ensure the protection of the electricity infrastructure when installed and warned that the people would not take kindly with vandals any longer

The Ibese Plant Director of Dangote Cement, Mr Roy Uttam, while handing over the electrical materials within the premises of Ibese Police Station, said the donation was part of efforts made by the cement plant management to halt the prolonged blackout in the affected towns and villages, and advised the people to ensure the electrical installations are protected.

Mr Uttam pointed out that the plant management had invested millions of Naira to purchase the electrical materials in the spirit of good neighbourliness, noting that, “Otherwise it should be the job of the IBEDC to provide the materials as a business venture that would be collecting money from the customers after reconnecting them.”

“The management of Dangote Cement Plc is donating the electrical materials to close out the lingering power outage in the affected communities which have been in darkness for years due to vandalisation of cables and other installations by unscrupulous elements,” he added.

He further explained that the decision to intervene was borne out of genuine care for the people and the desire to help mitigate the negative impact of the outage on socio-economic activities of the people. He reiterated the cement company’s commitment to the sustainable development of its host communities and continued collaboration on initiatives geared towards the general wellbeing of the people.

Receiving the materials on behalf of the management of IBEDC, the Technical Engineer for the Sango Business Hub, Mr Ayodeji Taiwo, thanked the cement maker for the provisions, assuring stakeholders of speedy action by the electricity distribution company to facilitate quick reconnection of the communities within timelines.