1,423 Illegal Refining Sites Demobilised, 567 Suspects Arrested In 2021- DHQ
The Defence Headquarters on Thursday said troops of Operation Delta Safe have demobilised about 1,423 illegal oil refining sites between January and December 21, 2021.
In a statement by the Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Bernard Onyeuko, on Thursday, he added that no fewer than 567 in the various operations conducted in the South-South region.
He stated that some of the arrested suspects have been convicted, while others are still undergoing trials in various courts of law, vowing that troops would sustain to reduce oil theft and other crimes in the region.
The statement was titled, ‘The activities and achievements of the Joint Task Force, South-South Operation Delta Safe from January to December 2021.’
It read partly, “The anti-Crude Oil Theft efforts of the JF during the period in consideration has led to the demobilization of about 1,423 illegal oil refining sites (each of which contains many camps), over 4,929 storage facilities and 536 large wooden boats, popularly called ‘Cotonou boats’ among others.
“Also, 13 ships laden with crude oil cargo, 9 barges, 137 trucks and other types of vehicles conveying illegally refined products were arrested.
“Additionally, about 40 million litres of crude oil and 67 million litres of illegally refined products mostly AGO were recovered from the criminals.
“In the process of conducting these operations, 567 suspects were arrested in connection with various crimes.
“The suspects and exhibits have all been handed over to the appropriate prosecuting agencies for prosecution. While some of the arrested suspects have been convicted, others are still undergoing trials in various courts of law. Nonetheless, the JTF will sustain its anti-COT efforts until the crime is totally eliminated or reduced to the barest minimum.”
