Navy finds an illegal refinery in Rivers and arrests 14 people

According to the Nigerian Navy, 14 people have been taken into custody for possible involvement in illicit oil bunkering in the Elem Krakama hamlet in Rivers State’s Degema Local Government Area.

Additionally, the Navy reported that they had discovered an illegal oil refinery that was capable of producing over 9.6 million liters of diesel, or automotive gas oil, each day.

The Navy also stated that three wooden boats with a 70 metric ton storage capacity were taken during an operation on Thursday that was overseen by the Commander of the Nigerian Navy Ship Pathfinder, Commodore Desmond Igbo.

Journalists were informed by Igbo that the suspects were stealing crude from an oil wellhead that had been tapped in the Oil Mining Lease (OML-18), which is run by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in the region.

He said that the alleged oil thieves had seriously damaged the wellhead.

Igbo stated that the site has 16 cooking pots with a capacity of 6,000 liters of diesel each and expressed shock at the extensive economic sabotage occurring there. He also insisted that the Navy will not back down in its efforts to ensure that illicit oil refining operations are eradicated.

He stated, “This is Elem Krakama in Degema LGA of Rivers State. We have come here to ensure that this oil stealing will not continue.

“We have about 16 cooking pots and some of them contain about 6,00 litres. It is very huge, as you can see where they are tapping it from right from the oil wellhead.

“It comes out the way water comes from the tap. We have made arrests, we arrested about 14 of them in the act of stealing the crude and also illegally refining this crude.

“Behind me is oil well head 15 belonging to OML 18, of NNPCL. You can see a very big 14-inch hose connected illegally to this oil well head 15.

“They are transferring it to this big wooden boat also known as the Cotonou boat.

“The boats contain 70 metric tons of crude oil, the crude is still there they will connect it to the reservoirs through the 4-inch hose from there they will start cooking it.”

Continuing, the NHS Pathfinder boss said, “We have four of these wooden boats in this camp. The cooking pots also contain about 1.5 million AGO. This is not good for our country not good for the economy.”