Troops Destroy Bunkering Sites In Rivers, Bayelsa
…Recover 40,000 Litres Of Illegal Products
From ERIC MOORE, Port Harcourt
Troops of Land Component (LC), Joint Task Force (JTF), South-South (SS), Operation Delta Safe (OPDS), of the 6 Division, Nigerian Army, said they have destroyed illegal oil bunkering sites in Bayelsa and Rivers States.
Also, the troops said they have recovered over 40,000 litres of illegal products during their operations in the two states.
The Acting Deputy Director, 6 Division Army Public Relations, Lieutenant Colonel Danjuma Jonah Danjuma, disclosed this in a statement released in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Wednesday.
Danjuma said the troops’ operation was aimed at reducing the activities of notorious illegal oil bunkering merchants in the Niger Delta region (NDR), adding that they (troops ) have effectively scaled up operations against these criminal elements in the area.
He explained that in the operations that ensued, the troops identified several illegal refining sites (IRS) in Rivers and Bayelsa States.
The 6 Division APR said: “In Rivers State, troops of Sector 3, LC JTF SS OPDS, following credible intelligence identified and successfully destroyed 3 IRS at Odagwa in Etche Local Government Area (LGA).
“The operation led to the confiscation and subsequent destruction of over 30,000 litres of stolen and illegally refined products.
“Also, at Akaso field down to Cawthorne channel, around Well 9, troops discovered One IRS, 3 receivers and massive connecting pipes traversing the terrain to convey stolen crude to IRS. Other items were also confiscated and destroyed at the sites in line with the mandate of Operation Delta Safe in the NDR.
“Similarly, in Bayelsa State, troops of Sector 2, while conducting routine operations in the creeks, waterways and rivulets along Dasaba Creek in Nembe LGA, confiscated over 12,000 litres of stolen and illegally refined products.
“Other Items recovered at the IRS include one fibre boat, five ovens, several metal drums as well as massive reserviors used as storage facilities for this illegal venture.”
The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 6 Division, Nigerian Army and Land Component Commander, Major General Jamal Abdussalam, while commending troops for the renewed vigour, charged them to redouble their efforts in denying these criminal elements free of action in the NDR.
He said this would ensure integrity of the pipelines and increase oil production in the region in pursuant of the mandate of Operation Delta Safe (OPDS) in the Niger Delta region NDR).