Nigerian army troops on Wednesday destroyed an illegal oil refinery in Warri South Local Government Area Delta state, south-south Nigeria.
This was revealed on Thursday by the army spokesman, Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement.
Nwachukwu, a brigadier general, said the illegal refinery was destroyed by troops from the army’s 6th Division as part of their ongoing attack on “spoilers from the Nigerian oil sector in south-south Nigeria.”
The army spokesman said the operation was carried out in response to a tip about the activities of some suspected oil thieves at the site of the illegal refinery located at Ogboko and Atu in the council area.
“During the operations, the troops destroyed eight active furnaces used for the illegal refining of stolen crude oil, 14 storage depots containing an estimated 200,000 liters of stolen crude oil and 90,000 liters of locally refined automotive diesel,” it said.
Nwachukwu said the suspected oil thieves fled the scene when they saw troops advancing on the scene.
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The spokesman added that the illegal refinery was destroyed in accordance with the current Army Delta Safe operations guidelines.
“Investigations are underway to apprehend fleeing criminals,” he said.
He urged state residents to report any crime in their neighborhood to security agencies to improve military operations and ongoing efforts to curb oil theft in the country.
Oil theft, illegal fueling in oil-producing communities, mainly in south-south Nigeria, and its negative impact on the country’s economy have been a source of concern to the Nigerian government over the years.
In August 2022, the federal government awarded a pipeline surveillance contract worth 48 billion naira per year (4 billion naira per month) to the Ekpemupolo government, popularly known as Tompolo, to control massive oil theft in the region.
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