03 January 2016, Lagos – OIL thieves continue to break into flow lines in Delta state even as the Nigerian Navy scores its men high in the fight to end oil theft and illegal refineries in the state.
Hours before observing its 2015 Ball and ceremonial Sunset which officially draws the activities of the navy to a close for the year, Flag Officer Commanding Central Naval Command, FOC, CNC, Rear Admiral Apochi Suleiman took the press in Warri, Delta state on a tour of fresh points oil thieves have broken into to syphon crude on the Trans-Forcados pipeline.
Suleiman said at the crime points in Oteghele, Warri South local government area, Delta State that the criminals are changing tactics with rapidity in determination to beat the watchful eyes of the navy and other oil theft fighting agencies.
“They realised that they no longer can deploy Cotonou boats and the illegal refineries with impunity in the creeks and the mother ships are being arrested. You saw two in the Warri base. What they are now doing is to connect to tap points on this export line.
“They then lay the pipes as far as two kilometres offshore and load directly from there.”
Now that we have discovered this and continue to discover more of their tricks, the perpetrators cannot thrive in it because we are going to put it into perpetual surveillance and make it unattractive for them.”
Later at the Sunset event held at the Nigerian Navy Ship, NNS, Delta, Warri naval base, the FOC, CNC, projected that the navy is poised to improve on its 2015 efforts as its men have also resorted to smashing of petroleum products black markets in added efforts to eradicate illegal refineries at the point of sale.
- Vanguard