Six oil ‘thieves’ caught in Bayelsa

From Rosemary Nwisi, Port Harcourt

A vessel conveying over 1,000,000 litres of suspected illegal petroleum products has been impounded by the Nigerian Navy in Bayelsa State.

Men of the Forward Operation Base (FOB), who seized the vessel, also arrested its six-member crew.

The ship “MV Gratitude” and its all-Nigerian crew were reportedly intercepted at the Brass anchorage on January 9.

The suspects were identified as Victor Ita (captain), Rotimi Poroye, Henry Edet Bassey, Raphael Adewale, Godswill Iko and Jonah Achieve.

Read Also: 306 suspected vandals, oil thieves held in Rivers

Handing over the suspects and the vessel to men of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, the FOB Commanding Officer, Commodore Suleiman Ibrahim said the products had already been refined locally.

Ibrahim said the Navy was determined to clear the waterways of illegal oil bunkering and piracy.

A representative of the EFCC, Tasiu Abubakar, a Superintendent of Police, said the Commission will diligently investigate the alleged oil crime and let the law take its course.

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said that it would improve its collaboration with the EFCC in order to better fight oil theft and other petroleum-related crimes in the Niger Delta.

The Zonal Operations Controller of the DPR in Port Harcourt, Bassey Nkanga made the statement when the head of operations of the EFCC in the zone, Usman Imam, visited him.

Nkanga assured the anti-graft agency of closer ties with the DPR.

Imam told his host: “Your technical inputs in the areas of petroleum products analysis to determine the type, quality, and quantity as well as the documentation of oil-bearing vessels have greatly assisted our investigations of oil theft, which is a major activity of the zonal office.”