by Tony Tamuno

The anti-oil bunkering squad of the Joint Task Force, Operation Pulo Shield, has arrested seven suspected oil thieves in Delta State.

Spokesman of Operation Pulo Shield, Lt. Col. Mustapha Anka, said the suspects, who operated a truck containing 160 drums of stolen oil, were arrested along Nonwa Tai road‎. The truck was destroyed while the suspects were handed over to the JTF for further investigation.
The squad also intercepted and arrested an illegal oil bunkering tugboat, MV Tobester, loaded with suspected illegally refine Automated Gas Oil (AGO), along Tonmogbene area in Warri South West LGA of the state.

Captain of the tugboat, Akinfemiwa Bojo and the engineer, Mr Solomon Ogunlona, were also arrested and handed over to Sector 2 JTF, for preliminary investigation before handing over to the prosecuting agency, while the vessel is anchored at the Nigeria Port Authority (NPA) in Warri. In the Sector 2 axis, JTF troops patrolling along Igbemotoru area destroyed 18 illegal crude oil refineries where oil thieves operates with 7 boats filled with stolen kerosene and 13 illegal storing facilities.

The troops also discovered an illegal oil bunkering hose connected to an NNPC pipeline, with two boats filled with crude oil which was suspected to have been stolen. The items were destroyed on the spot in line with the mandate of the Task Force.

Thirteen illegal oil distillery camps were also destroyed around Gbarum Market in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State where oil thieves operate with plastic tanks filled with suspected illegally acquire crude oil. The sites and the equipments were destroyed along with the trucks and products. Other items discovered includes 32 plastic tankers with capacity of 200 litres each, filled with substance suspected to be stolen crude oil siphoned from an oil well head.

Anka said the the JTF, in collaboration with other relevant security agencies, is intensifying efforts against piracy and other oil-related crimes on the waterways of the Niger Delta region.

YEditor