A TOTAL of 6,000 illegal refineries were destroyed last year in the Niger Delta by the Joint Task Force (JTF) formally code-named Operation Restore Hope now called Operation Pulo Shield.
And no fewer than 150 suspects were arrested for alleged involvement in illegal bunkering activities. Five vessels and four barges allegedly used for oil theft were also seized in the period under review.
Spokesman of the JTF, Lt.-Col. Timothy Antigha, disclosed this at the weekend while handing over seven suspected oil thieves and five trucks loaded with petroleum products to the Rivers State Command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Port Harcourt.
He explained that the suspects were arrested at Waterlines in Port Harcourt and Oyigbo, following a tip off.
Antigha said: “During an operation on the 18 and 19th January, 2012, the JTF arrested seven suspects illegally dealing in refined petroleum products at Waterlines in Port Harcourt and Oyigbo local government areas. They are part of a gang that refine and sell these products to members of the public. These products are below the standard of the NNPC and the Department of Petroleum Resources. The suspects will be handed over to the NSCDC.”
The names of the suspects handed over to the NSCDC are Babayo Dauda, Mohammed Abdullahi, Bukar Alima, and Jeremah Umaru, Ali Salisu, Ibrahim Abdullahi and Ikechukwu Ukaegbu.
Antigha explained that following a restructuring exercise at the JTF, there are now five sectors in the Niger Delta with the Force’s headquarters still in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), has urged the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to probe and bring to light alleged corruption in the oil sector.