Crude Theft Crackdown: Navy Dismantles 40,000-Litre Illegal Refinery in Rivers, Apprehends Three Suspects

In an aggressive escalation of the campaign against crude oil theft in the Niger Delta, personnel of the Nigerian Navy, operating in concert with the Federal Government's specialized maritime task force, have deactivated an industrial-scale artisanal refinery with an estimated holding capacity of 40,000 litres on Bonny Island, Rivers State.

The tactical operation, executed following actionable intelligence gathered over weeks of surveillance, led to the immediate arrest of three suspects found actively supervising the illegal distillation process. Military sources confirmed that the clandestine facility featured interconnected delivery pipelines, rudimentary boiling ovens, and specialized storage tanks designed to siphoned crude directly from commercial trunklines running across the coastal creeks.

During the clearance operation, security operatives confiscated specialized bunkering paraphernalia, pumping equipment, and several drums of illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO). Naval authorities affirmed that the refining apparatus has been systematically neutralized to prevent immediate rehabilitation, while the arrested suspects remain in custody undergoing preliminary interrogations before their official transfer to relevant prosecutorial agencies.

Naval commanders on ground reiterated that the armed forces remain unwavering in eradicating economic saboteurs whose operations consistently compromise critical national energy infrastructure and pollute the fragile marine ecosystem of Rivers State.