IllEGAL BUNKERERS FLEE AS NAVY CONTINUE OFFFENSIVE.

The Nigerian Navy (NNS) has in the last two weeks been been on the offensive against illegal oil bunkerers and refineries in the Niger-Delta creeks.The Commander of the NNS Pathfinder, Commodore Shuwa Mohammed, told reporters yesterday in Port Harcourt that four suspects, who were arrested and would be handed over to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). “Ironically, while setting the refinery ablaze, four out of the fleeing oil thieves came back and offered us a bribe of N600,000 to leave the refinery. “The four suspects were subsequently arrested and would be handed over to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for investigation and prosecution,” he said. Mohammed said despite the renewed efforts by the naval high command to stop oil theft, the government should also sensitise Nigerians rather than destruction alone,” he said. During the aerial surveillance, many artisanal/illegal refineries, hidden under the mangrove forest, were sighted, with the environment polluted. There are over 33,000 creeks in the Niger Delta. NNS Pathfinder monitors more than 1,000 of the creeks and waterways. Mohammed said the mop-up was aimed at ending the colossal damage done to the environment by activities of the oil thieves, who he said had been puncturing pipelines to obtain crude oil illegally.In the course of our operations, an illegal refinery with 15 storage metal tanks, loaded with 145,000 litres of stolen crude oil, was set ablaze in Buguma, Asari-Toru LGA of Rivers State.” He also stated that more than 50,000 litres of illegally-refined diesel, stored in 10 cooking tanks, was also destroyed. He noted that a metal badge and dump, with the capacity of storing thousands of litres of petroleum products, were also destroyed.