Navy secures N10.7bn stolen crude oil, others in April

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At least N10,701,793,052.5 was saved in April from oil theft and economic sabotage by the Nigerian Navy, according to a statement released on Wednesday.

Nigeria’s navy released a breakdown of the haul, which included 6,558,000 litres of Automotive Gas Oil, also known as diesel, worth N4,721,760,000; 16, 423, 414 litres (103,291.91 barrels) of crude oil worth $10,845,650.55 (N5,965,107,802.5k); 319,150 litres of Dual Purpose Kerosene at N235/liter (N7,500,250) and 45,000 litres of Premium Motor Spirit at N165/liter (N7,425,000), which totaled N7,425,000.

On Wednesday, the Director of Information, Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, issued a statement that included these points.

A total of 650,000 litres of Sludge, 148 illegal refinery sites, and 36 wooden boats were destroyed in April, according to Ayo-Vaughan.

The statement partly read,” From April 23 to April 30, 2022, being the fourth week of the Nigerian Navy-led Operation Dakatar Da Barawo, operation bases recorded remarkable achievements.

“Particularly, Nigerian Navy Ship SOROH at Yenagoa on April 23 during a patrol of Mbiama, Kiama and Sagbama axis discovered two empty tanker trucks close to Sagbama waterside which is neither a loading site nor a tank farm.

“The 2two trucks were therefore neutralised. Similarly, the base intercepted a market boat at Odioma-Diema axis along Akassa- Brass route.

“The boat was laden with over 3,500 litres of suspected crude oil products concealed in drums and gallons which were subsequently evacuated to a river bank and neutralised accordingly. In a related development, NNS DELTA in Warri on April 25, 2022 deactivated an illegal refining site around Sara creek in Warri South West LGA.

“In summary, Week 4 of OPDDB witnessed the recovery of over 2,178,500 litres (13,703 barrels) of stolen crude oil, about 787,500,000 litres of AGO and 20,000 litres of Kerosene all valued above N1.7 billion.

“Pertinently, concerning previous seizures and recoveries during OPDDB for the month of April 2022, the Nigerian Navy denied oil thieves and economic saboteurs an estimated N10, 701,793,052.5k worth of crude oil and related products for the period under review.”