04 May 2013, Warri – OIL thieves took to their heels, weekend, abandoning 150 drums of illegally refined diesel, following a raid on them in Udu Creek, Delta State, by naval men in Warri.
Commander, NNS, Delta, Navy Commodore Mohammed Garba, displayed the impounded drums, loaded in three locally wooden boats before newsmen after which he instructed they should be set ablaze.
“The seizure was made by my men on Thursday, we acted on a tip-off, but they fled before we got there, so it was an abandoned seizure,” he said.
He said following the zero level tolerance for oil theft, pipeline vandalism and other criminal acts on the waterways and strategic performance mandate of the Chief of Naval Staff, the Navy in Warri would spare no effort to battle oil bunkerers and criminals on waterways.
Commodore Garba said the waterways in the state were relatively safe as sea pirates were relocating to other states because of the manhunt for them by security agents.
*Emma Amaize, Vanguard
