Festus Ahon
06 August 2012, Sweetcrude, UGHELLI—THE Joint Military Task Force, JTF, in the Niger Delta, weekend, invaded an illegal refinery at Ovrode community, Isoko North Local Government Area, Delta State, destroying two concrete refining wells and a giant storage tank.
The soldiers stormed the refinery sited at Okpaide forest in the community at 10.30am in five Hilux pick-ups and also destroyed the piping system of the illegal refinery.
Commanding Officer of 222 Battalion, Lt. Col. Atahiru Rasheed, told newsmen after the operation that they embarked on the raid after they got a tip off that some persons were carrying out illegal refining of crude oil in the area.
Rasheed said that JTF was prepared to continue to keep vigilance on the area, so as to keep those involved in the illegal operations at bay.
He added, that “JTF was leaving no stone unturned in tackling the problem of crude oil theft, illegal refining of petroleum products and reducing illegal bunkering to the barest minimum.”
