The sum of Two Hundred and Eighty Six Million, Two Hundred and Seventy Seven Thousand, Six Hundred and Fifty Naira has been recovered from oil thieves in the South-south region of the country .
Director, Defence Media Operations of the Defence Headquarters, Major General Musa Danmadami who made this known in Abuja, said Troops of
Operation DELTA SAFE who recovered the money during the conduct of their regular operations, also discovered and destroyed 41 illegal refining sites.
Speaking on efforts to tackle insecurity, Danmadami assured of the readiness of the Nigerian military to promptly and decisively address anything that is detrimental to the peace and security of the nation.
He said a lot of recoveries have been made in the past two weeks, adding that high caliber ammunitions were covered by troops in the north and other parts of the country.
The DMO also disclosed that the air component of the armed forces carried out series of air interdiction and Armed Reconnaissance Mission within the South South theatre of operation that recorded some remarkable results between 21st to 27th April 2023.
Major General Danmadami in his words said “Consequently, troops of Operation DELTA SAFE in the conduct of Operation OCTOPUS GRIP and other operations discovered and destroyed 41 illegal refining sites, 156 cooking ovens, 189 storage tanks, 12 dugout pits and 15 wooden boats.
“Troops also recovered 6 vehicles, 1 tricycle, 1,060,000 litres of crude oil, 13,500 litres of Automotive Gas Oil, and 8,500 litres of Premium Motor Spirit while 18 suspected economics saboteurs were arrested.
” All recovered items and apprehended suspects have been handed over to appropriate authority for further action. It is worthy to mention that the sum of Two Hundred and Eighty Six Million Two Hundred and Seventy Seven Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty Naira (N286,277,650.00) only were denied the oil thefts
“Also, the air component of Operation DELTA SAFE carried out series of air interdiction and Armed Reconnaissance Mission within the South South theatre of operation that recorded some remarkable results. Notably, between 21 – 27 April 2023, several air interdiction were conducted at Ogbogbo community in Ahoada West Local Government Area and Abisse Waterways in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State.
“Some identified illegal refining sites, illegal tanks and reservoirs loaded with suspected refined products were seen and bombarded accordingly. The air strike was observed to have set off explosions that burnt down the storages and reservoirs”.
