Troops of the Nigerian Army have destroyed a massive illegal oil refinery that is located in Delta State.
The Army spokesperson, Brig Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, said in a statement on Thursday that the illegal refining site was destroyed in line with the existing guidelines of Operation Delta Safe.
“Troops of 6 Division of the Nigerian Army have continued to crack down on saboteurs of Nigeria’s oil sector in South South Nigeria,” Nwachukwu said.
He added that on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, troops conducting anti oil theft operations, responding to actionable intelligence, swooped on an illegal oil refinery site in the general area of Ogbokoko and Atu in Warri South Local Government Area (LGA) of Delta State.
During the operations, troops destroyed 8 active Ovens used for illegal refining of stolen crude oil.
They also destroyed 14 storage reservoirs containing stolen crude oil estimated at 200,000 litres and 90,000 litres of locally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO).
According to Nwachukwu, the oil thieves fled the scene, upon sighting the advancement of troops.
“The illegal refining site was destroyed in-situ in line with the extant guidelines of Operation Delta Safe. An investigation is ongoing to arrest the fleeing criminals,” he stated.
In the statement, Nwachukwu also implored members of the public to report any suspected act of sabotage or criminality to security agencies to enhance ongoing operations to curb economic sabotage in Nigeria.
