The Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta, codenamed, ‘Operation Delta Safe (OPDS)’, says it has uncovered over 50 illegal refining sites in the Biseni forests of Yenagoa local government area of Bayelsa State.
The commander, OPDS, Rear Admiral John Okeke, who led the operation on Sunday, May 12, said that illegal refining of stolen crude oil was taking place in each of the sites uncovered.
He said a large dug-out open pit that could accommodate more than 10 trucks of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), popularly known as diesel, was being used to hold crude oil from the distribution points to their cooking sites.
He recalled that he had earlier warned oil thieves in the area to desist from the illegal business or relocate to another area.
He equally recalled that on May 9, 2024, the troops were at Ukwa West LGA in Abia state bordering Rivers state and Imo River, he had issued a similar warning for criminals to stop the illegalities.
Okeke said: “Today, like I said, we are not going to relent and it is a work in progress. We will not get tired, we will continue to give criminals hell; we are now in Biseni in Yenagoa LGA of Bayelsa State.
“We traversed from Ahoada West LGA of Rivers State to reach this point. The most surprising thing is that this place we are now is housing over 50 cooking sites with unique arrangements.
“It is where the thieves operating in this area have decided to be, so smart by connecting what is called theft line made of two inches pipe, a galvanized pipe connecting directly to supply oil line on the road, from a distance of one kilometre.
“Then they have a lot of funny connections where they have various arrangements of linking multiple connections where each of the oil thieves gets their supply.
“From a large dug-out open pit that can accommodate more than 10 trucks of AGO, they are holding crude oil from where they distribute to their cooking sites.”
The OPDS commander called on the public-spirited individuals to continue to volunteer useful information to help the troops apprehend the suspected criminals, saying the troops alone could not do it.
“Look at the thick forest we are in now, you can never imagine that such serious crime is going on here. If not for the good-spirited individuals that volunteered information, we wouldn’t have known what is happening in the forest,” Okeke stated.
He advised the criminals to kindly relocate or change their business because troops would not relent in their clearance operations.
The JTF Commander said his message to those involved in illegality had remained that sooner or later they would catch up with them and deal decisively with them.
He noted: “It appears that they felt that we are romancing with kid gloves, but I can assure you that it is getting out of hand and we won’t relax on our laurels to curb these illicit activities.
“I personally will begin to advocate more serious measures to address this challenge, because the country is bleeding. You know the illicit oil activities are doing more harm than good.
“When you allow such activities to be perpetrated continuously, the legitimate people that engage in crude business will not be able to sell their products because these criminals will be selling at far lower prices.
“The government needs to gain revenue for developmental purposes that is why we have taken it as a force to continue to fight this battle and we will not back down”.
