The 6 Division of the Nigerian Army has discovered and taken over a massive illegal refinery camp with five million litres of stolen crude oil in Rivers State.
Also discovered at the camp was 15 boilers, nine storage tanks, newly acquired pipes, makeshift houses and other expensive facilities worth millions of naira.
The camp is located along the Mirinwanyi channel of the Imo River at the Komkom area of Oyigbo local government area of the state. The troops of the division raided the camp where the crude oil was awaiting to be refined.
The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 6 Division, Major General Jamal Abdussalam, alongside some officers of the division while on the creek to assess the camp said the division would not relent in its determination to destroy all illegal refineries and illegal connections in its area of responsibility.
Abdusalam said, “This is in continuation of our operations to destroy all illegal refineries, illegal connections in our area of responsibility. Based on credible intelligence, this morning, our troops raided this location.
“We have discovered over 15 boilers and about nine reservoirs. From our estimation, the crude oil that had been stolen and reserved here for processing is over N5million litres.
“On our way, we saw large Cotonou boats capable of taking 200 litres. We saw more than five on our way filled with crude oil. It is indeed very sad that these activities continued. We will not get tired. We will continue with our job,” he said.
He said though the operators fled the area, the division was following some leads to arrest the real culprits behind the sabotage and called on those responsible for such act to embrace legitimate businesses.
Abdusalam, while described the discovery as sad said after their last raid of an illegal refinery at Odagwa in Etche local government, he thought that there will be no other one bigger in size until the troops carried out the latest raid.
“I thought we would not see anything more than the raid we carried out at Odagwa, unfortunately we are seeing very sad illegal activities taking place in this area.
“So, it is beyond the people we arrest. We are following several leads and we are hoping that those leads will take us to those, who are actually responsible. This activity is illegal, criminal and dirty. We call on people to embrace legitimate businesses,” he said.
He said, “No arrest has been made. I said it before that most of those arrested were labourers working on the site. We have not been able to get real culprits. We can see the facilities here. It is not something that ordinary persons can set up. It needs money, expertise and careful planning.’’
