Operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have discovered and dismantled an illegal bunkering site in the forest of Rivers state.
According to reports from the Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad (CG’SIS), the illegal structures were discovered at Umuedeokwara Community, Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The head of the Squad, Deputy Commandant Appolos Dandaura, said his team acted based on sustained intelligence, which revealed that a gang of criminal elements was operating an illegal refinery at the crime scene.
“Like we always reiterate that our operations are intelligence-based and we value every piece of information and preserve the integrity of our informants; we swung into action, combed the entire forest and discovered where the suspects were refining crude oil locally after storage in large trampoline reservoirs and further packaged them in cellophane bags and sacks.
“These unscrupulous saboteurs connected fabricated and galvanized metallic pipes to the trunk lines of multinational oil pipeline installations with inserted valves.
“The suspects, however, took to their heels through the creeks due to the terrain upon sighting our men”, Dandaura explained.
He said his team recovered from the suspects about 20,000 litres of illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) stored in cellophane bags, large quantities of siphoned crude oil stored in tarpaulin reservoirs, different sizes of aluminium and plastic buckets, galvanized metallic Fabricated pipes, heavy-duty industrial hoses and items of clothing belonging to the suspects.
Dandaura said in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Corps, Babawale Afolabi, that the Corps would not relent in its assignment to flush remnants of oil thieves in the Niger Delta region.
DC Dandaura said the fight against illegal dealings in petroleum products would be sustained without compromise, noting that economic saboteurs would be ruthlessly dealt with according to the law. (Nation)