Oil thieves held in military dawn raid

The Joint Task Force (JTF) in
the Niger Delta, codenamed
Operation Pulo Shield, at the
weekend, smashed an oil theft
syndicate using the riverside
Otuogori community in Ogbia
local government area of
Bayelsa State as depot for
the transportation of illegally
refined petroleum products to
other parts of the country.
Six suspects were nabbed and
a 36,000 litre capacity tanker,
loading illegally refined diesel
and 300 surface tanks, seized
during the dawn operation led
by the Commander, 5
Battalion of the JTF, Lt Col
Ja’afaru Ibrahim.
The community folks, many of
whom were believed to be
involved in the business, were
taken by surprise by the
military raid, forcing many of
them to abandon their homes
stocked with the illegally
refined product.
The raid came on the heels of
last week’s destruction of 218
illegal refineries, 151 surface
tanks and oil dumps around
Oporoza in the Ecravos
waterways of Delta State,
Alakiri waterside and the
adjoining creeks of Sombreiro
river in Abonema, Rivers
State.
A 36,000 litre capacity tanker,
with registration number XQ
239 LSR, used in conveying
illegally refined petroleum
product (diesel), 26 large
surface tanks, 2 Geepee
tanks, each having 500-litre
storage capacity, over 300
drums of diesel, gigantic
hoses, generators and10
pumping machines used in
siphoning stolen crude oil as
well as in transferring illegally
refined products to surface
tanks, waiting vessels and
tankers were intercepted by
the security forces.Source: Vanguard Newspaper