Oil theft: Security agents uncover illegal refinery in Delta

As part of efforts to forestall the activities of illegal miners in the Niger Delta region, security operatives have reportedly clamped down on an illegal refinery in the region.

During the weekend, troops of 181 Amphibious Battalion of the Nigerian Army (NA) operating in 6 Division Area of Responsibility and collaborating security agencies, uncovered a major illegal oil refining site located at Owahwa community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State

According to a statement by the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, on Sunday, a joint operation by troops of the Nigerian Army, personnel from the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, and private security outfit, Tantita uncovered the illegal fuel mining site.

Onyema said that the security operatives carried out a sting operation on the site after an intelligence report, adding that the operatives discovered 35 Modular Ovens used for illegal refining of crude oil, 3 fabricated reservoirs, 30 dug-out reservoirs, and 75 galvanized pipes.

The statement read: “In a sustained effort to deny oil thieves freedom of action in South-South Nigeria and protect the Oil sector from economic sabotage, troops of 181 Amphibious Battalion of the Nigerian Army operating in 6 Division Area of Responsibility, in conjunction with operatives of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, as well as operatives of Tantita Security, have uncovered a major illegal oil refining site at Owahwa community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State.

“The combined team of anti-oil theft troops discovered on Saturday, July 29, 2023, in a sting operation following a surveillance report on the illicit activities of illegal oil refiners in the area.

“The vigilant troops on storming the illegal refining site, discovered 35 Modular Ovens used for illegal refining of crude oil, 3 fabricated Reservoirs, 30 Dug out Reservoirs, and 75 Galvanized pipes.”

Onyema urged well meaning Nigerians to continue to support the ongoing anti-oil theft operations by reporting all suspected illicit oil refining and bunkering activities in their areas to the security agencies.

Oil theft in Nigeria is a recurring incident and a menace to the society which the government is working hard to eliminate.

In the rich Niger Delta region where most of Nigeria’s crude oil is found, individuals and groups often find means of extracting crude oil, sometimes by breaking oil pipes and illegally refining them for commercial profit.

In April, the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative revealed that Nigeria lost 619.7 million barrels of crude oil valued at N16.25tn to crude oil theft between 2009 and 2020.

The data gathered from the agency’s latest policy brief titled, “The cost of fuel subsidy: A case for policy review,” also stated that the country spent over N13tn ($74 billion) on fuel subsidies between 2005 and 2021.

These developments have negatively impacted the country’s dwindling economy.

Meanwhile, a Prominent Niger Delta leader and former agitator, Mujahid Asari Dokubo, who recently accused the military of an involvement in most cases of oil theft recorded in the country, has pledged his support to the Federal Government to bring oil theft to “zero,” believing that the Tinubu-led administration would “fish out” the culpable elements in the military.

Dokubo made his pledge while speaking to journalists at the presidential villa, just after a closed door meeting with President Tinubu at the state house.