This was disclosed on Thursday morning by Major General E.S. Buba, Director of Defence Media Operation during the defence headquarters’ weekly briefing.
Troops of Operation Delta Safe have recovered a total of 802,000 litres of stolen crude oil, over 121,000 litres of illegally refined automotive gas oil (AGO) and 450 litres of dual-purpose kerosene (DPK) from the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
This was disclosed on Thursday morning by Major General E.S. Buba, Director of Defence Media Operation during the defence headquarters’ weekly briefing.
Buba said a total of 36 illegal refinery sites were discovered by the troops in the last few weeks and were all destroyed. He added that 32 suspects were also arrested during the operation.
He said, “The troops of Operation Delta Safe maintained the momentum against the activities of crude oil theft. Overall, the troops of Operation Delta Safe recovered over 802,000 litres of stolen crude oil as well as over 121,000 litres of illegally refined automotive gas oil (AGO) and 450 litres of litres of dual-purpose kerosene (DPK).
“Additionally, the troop discovered and destroyed 24 boats, 34 storage tanks, 56 cooking ovens, 22 vehicles and 36 illegal refinery sites and other items recovered destroyed during the weeks.
“The troop apprehended 32 perpetrators of oil thefts, and some were involved in violent extremism activities in the course of the operation during the week.”
In December 2023, the troops of Operation Delta Safe also destroyed 51 illegal oil refining sites found in the same region.
The Army said stolen crude oil, refined products and N668.7 million were recovered during the operation seven months ago.