The Nigerian Navy, in collaboration with the federal government’s inter-agency task force on petroleum theft, has discovered an illegal refinery with a 40,000-litre capacity on Bonny Island, Rivers State.
Stanley Umeh, commanding officer of the Navy Forward Operating Base (FOB), Bonny, disclosed the discovery while speaking with journalists in Bonny on Friday.
Umeh described the facility as the biggest discovery made by his team since he assumed command in March.
He said naval gunboats left Bonny with security operatives, who navigated the creeks and trekked through thick vegetation before locating the clandestine facility.
“This discovery here is a product of long-time synergy between the base and other security agencies within the island and outside. It has been a product of actionable intelligence over time,” he said.
“Most times we go, we see illegal refineries with pits and crude deposited inside. Some have already cooked, and some are yet to be cooked. But this discovery is like nipping the act in the bud.
“This is their preparatory stage. You could see from the build-up and the set-up of the illegal refinery, it’s meant to be a very big one that would see the siphoning or stealing of crude and brought here for cooking in large quantity.”
Umeh described the discovery as a major development in efforts to tackle crude oil theft and increase Nigeria’s crude oil production.
He also assured residents that the Navy would intensify surveillance and patrol operations across Bonny’s waterways and other remote locations.
Omar Sini, head of investigation of the special prosecution team of the inter-agency task force on petroleum theft, attributed the discovery to cooperation among intelligence, security and law enforcement agencies.
Sini said the task force was inaugurated by the federal government on March 1, 2025, to investigate and prosecute illicit activities within Nigeria’s hydrocarbon sector.
He added that since its establishment, the task force has secured several convictions.
The head of investigation said, “we’ve been able to secure at least 137 convictions, and that is largely responsible for the drop in the illicit activities in the hydrocarbon sector”