Military Recovers 514,640 Litres Of Stolen Crude Oil, Others Worth Over N571m

The Nigerian Military has recovered a total of 514,640 litres of stolen crude oil, 339,315 litres of illegally refined diesel and 775 litres of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) worth the sum of N571,793,350.

The military disclosed this on Thursday in a statement signed by its Director Defence Media Operation, Major General, Edward Buba.

According to the military, troops in the nation’s Niger Delta region discovered and destroyed 76 dugout pits, 35 boats, 95 storage tanks, 10 vehicles, 129 cooking ovens, five pumping machines, 13 speedboats, six outboard engines, one vessel, three motorcycles and 49 illegal refining sites.

Buba revealed that the military had arrested 25 perpetrators of oil theft in the country’s oil producing region.

The war against crude oil theft has continued to gain momentum, given the military’s partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to clamp down on the activities of oil theft and other related activities.

Between October 28 and November 3, the NNPCL in its wide collaboration with military and other security agencies recorded 227 incidents of oil theft in Rivers, Imo, Delta and Bayelsa States respectively.

According to the national oil company, 17 of these incidents took place in the Deep Blue water, 70 in the Western region, 82 in the Eastern region and 58 in the Central region of the Niger Delta.