19 October 2015, Warri – Flag Officer Commanding Central Naval Command, FOC, CNC, of the Nigerian Navy, NN, Rear Admiral Apochi Suleiman, has accused soldiers guarding oil installations in the creeks of compromising their duties to encourage oil theft and operation of illegal refineries in the area.
Suleiman made the accusation when he confronted soldiers on guard at Jones Creek oil fields, Warri South-West Local Government area, Delta State, where he led men of the NN Ship, NNS Delta to raid and destroy five local refineries and 11 large wooden boats bearing stolen crude oil.
Disturbed at the proximity between the houseboat accommodating the soldiers guarding the oil facilities and the spots where the crude oil was stolen and processed at the illegal refineries, he told the guards, “You are compromising. You cannot be here and these criminalities are happening.”
However, a Staff Sergeant who led the soldiers on guard responded that: “Our duty is to look after the oil personnel and the work they do here.”
But Suleiman countered him, saying “your duty is all encompassing. These crude stealing boats don’t move in the air. They pass through your post and the illegal cooking points are so close. You can’t be blind to these things.”
- Vanguard