According to the Nigeria Navy, the OPERATION DELTA SANITY II crew had a great success in March combating crude oil theft.
In an announcement on the Nigeria Navy’s verified Facebook page on Saturday, Commodore A. Adams-Aliu, Director of Information, stated that on Friday, March 7, 2025, an illegal refinery site was found and deactivated near the Oteghele community in Obodo Omadino in Warri, SouthWest Local Government Area, Delta State. The site contained approximately 5,500 liters of stolen crude oil, 2,000 liters of illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), one oven, nine dugout pits, fifteen polythene sacks of illegally refined AGO, thirteen sacks of stolen crude oil, and one pumping machine.
A large wooden boat carrying 40,000 liters of crude oil was intercepted on Saturday, March 8, 2025, between the general vicinity of Okrika and Ogajama in Rivers State, the statement claims. Around the Saint Nicholas River in Bayelsa State, on Sunday, March 9, 2025, a seagoing vessel, MFT Olokun VIII, registered under the IMO registration number 8778275, was apprehended while carrying illicit firearms and ammunition. The weapons comprised one G3 rifle, one pump-action gun, seven live cartridges, and twenty rounds of 7.62/51mm ammunition. A pair of individuals connected to the illicit firearms were also taken into custody and will be prosecuted.
Around Obodo Omadino in Warri, South West Local Government Area, Delta State, on Monday, March 10, 2025, 23 polythene sacks containing 1,900 liters of illegally processed AGO, three furnaces, seven dugout pits, and eight sacks containing 3,700 liters of crude oil were found and deactivated.
Around Ohaji/Egbema West in Rivers State, on Thursday, March 13, 2025, a vandalized wellhead, eight illicit refinery sites, fifty-five ovens, twelve reservoirs, and thirty dugout pits with over 55,000 liters of stolen crude oil and roughly 4,000 liters of illegally refined AGO were found and confiscated.
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Furthermore, two drums and more than 5,000 liters of stolen crude oil were found on two wooden boats near the Dodo River in the Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State on Friday, March 14, 2025.
In Rivers State, a fiber boat carrying 1,000 liters of stolen crude oil was confiscated on Sunday, March 17, 2025, along the Bille/Krakrama waterways.
On Monday, March 17, 2025, it was reported that 18 polythene sacks containing approximately 1,900 liters of illegally refined AGO, two ovens, ten dugout pits, three illegal refinery sites, and three sacks containing approximately 2,700 liters of stolen crude oil were found and deactivated in the vicinity of Obodo Omadino in Warri, SouthWest Local Government Area, Delta State.
Two wooden boats were found and confiscated on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in the vicinity of Clough Creek and Dodo River in the Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, together with two drums of stolen crude oil and a cooking oven, among other things.
Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, the Chief of Naval Staff, reportedly reaffirmed that the Nigerian Navy will keep stepping up its operations to support Nigeria’s economic endeavors, especially the imperative to enhance crude oil production as instructed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.
