Navy destroys illegal refinery in Rivers (PHOTOS)

The Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder successfully dismantled an illegal refining site located in the creeks of Degema Local Government Area in Rivers State.

Commander of the NNS Pathfinder, Commodore Desmond Igbo, provided insights during a guided tour of the site on Wednesday. He estimated the refinery’s capacity to be well over a million liters, highlighting the operation’s reach from siphoning crude at the wellhead to storing it in the illicit reservoir.

“This is NNPC OML-18 being managed by NNPC and Sahara. You can see how these criminals went over there and rigged a hose, that hose is almost 18 inches from the oil well head. They rigged it from there,” Igbo stated.

“You can see the crude flowing down to where they have their reservoir and constructed illegal refinery where they cook it. This is economic sabotage to the Nigerian economy.”

He emphasized that the Nigerian Navy is seeking assistance from local communities to combat this issue and mentioned that no arrests have been made up to this point.

Expressing concern over the participation of young individuals in illegal oil bunkering, Igbo urged the paramount chiefs and community leaders in the area to take action and guide their youth accordingly.

“When we come with our gunboats, they ran away. But we are still going to trace them and trace those who are sponsoring them.

“They cannot just come here without having big people behind them. We will put down our intelligence and make sure we trace their sponsors,” he added.

The tanks were eradicated with assistance from a swamp buggy, and the illicit hose was secured by the technicians.

The struggle against crude oil theft in the Niger Delta remains an ongoing confrontation between security agencies and those sabotaging the economy.

See photos from the site below: