Soldiers of 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, has discovered an illegal refining site with capacity of five million litres of crude oil in Obuama Community of Oyigbo local government area of Rivers State.
Speaking after taking journalists round the site on Thursday, the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 6 Division, Major General Jamal Abdulsalam, expressed displeasure over the activities of vandals.
Gen. Abdussalam, who explained that the perpetrators were determined to sabotage the economy of the nation through their illegal oil deals,
vowed that the Nigerian Army would redouble efforts to apprehend the sponsors of the economic crime.
He encouraged youths to embrace legitimate businesses, warning that no one found to be engaged in oil theft would be spared no matter their status in the society.
The GOC said that the confiscated products would be handed over to relevant agencies for further action.
Other items also seized from the site were over five wooden boats of about 2,000 litres capacity each, laden with adulterated petroleum products.
In another development, the GOC, 6 Division, Nigerian Army, has said that without peace, the development of the Niger Delta region can not take place.
Gen. Abdulsalam stated this when he paid a courtesy visit on the NDDC Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, at the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt.
He said: “We need each other to succeed. We want to cement the existing relationship between NDDC and the Army.”
The GOC commended the NDDC for providing solar-powered streetlights at the Army Barracks in four states of the Niger Delta and appealed for more support in providing facilities in the barracks under the 6 Division.
Abdulsalam stated: “We provide security to oil and gas infrastructure in the Niger Delta region. We cover four states of Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Delta and we safeguard all oil and gas installations in the four states.”
