The Cross River State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mr. Adeuyi Dayo Clement, Tuesday disclosed that six refineries that were used for illegal bunkering were destroyed in the state last year.
He said 15 suspects for various offences were arrested of which three out of seven facing trial have been convicted.
The Commandant said the agency has stepped up operations to stamp out illegal bunkering and diversion of petroleum products in the state.
He said they had also impounded drums of diesel from pipeline vandals as well as recovered electricity cables.
He said they were working with other security agencies in the state to ensure crime is checked.
However, Clement complained that the command was faced with shortage of operational vehicles to carry out widespread monitoring of illegal activities.
Though he said the vehicles available were strategically deployed across the state to get the best results, he appealed to the government and well meaning organisations to assist by providing more.
The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Dakuku Peterside, yesterday said the war against illegal refineries must go on, if the economy must grow.
He hailed troops of the Operation Pulo Shield (OPS) in Port Harcourt and the Police for the seizure of eight boats and 2.3 million litres of stolen diesel from an illegal oil refining site in the state.
Peterside, in a statement by his Special Assistant (Media), Sylvester Asoya, praised the officers and men for their gallantry, describing their action as inspiring and an indication of more decisive steps ahead in the fight against illegal bunkering and other economic crimes against Nigeria.
“Security is very important because everything hinges on it. Progress and development is not only dependent but also measured by how secure the people are. Therefore we commend this latest onslaught on criminal elements in our state.
“I must state unequivocally that this offensive has rekindled faith in our people. It also reinforces our belief in the fact that the huge security problem facing Rivers State is receiving the urgent attention it deserves.
“Like every Rivers person, I am incredibly worried about the rising wave of crime in our dear state, especially kidnapping and armed robbery. The economy of Rivers State is on the verge of collapse because of insecurity. Every day, we make headlines for all the wrong reasons, we are not happy about this. Unfortunately the current occupants of Government house PH are more interested in other things other than the security and safety of Rivers people. I am, however, not surprised as a government midwifed by morallybankrupt people cannot muster the willpower and moral might to eradicate criminality as lions do not give birth to sheep.
“As a people, it will amount to sheer foolhardiness if we say we do not need help. As a matter of fact, we need every attention and support to rid Rivers State of these strange happenings.
“I, therefore, wish to use this medium to call on the Federal Government to intervene urgently by treating Rivers State security with special concern because of its strategic economic importance”.
The criminal activities of the oil thieves and illegal refiners and bunkerers made the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, to visit the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder, Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt, Rivers State shortly after he took over.
•Destruction of stolen crude oil by personnel of NNS, Pathfinder, Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt, Rivers State,
While at the NNS Pathfinder, which has as Commander, Commodore Shuwa Abdulrahim Mohammed, who assumed office on May 15 this year, Ibas warned the naval personnel against aiding and abetting crude oil theft and illegal refining of petroleum products, declaring that anybody caught would be sanctioned appropriately.
The CNS, while addressing naval officers and men, stated that the navy had declared total war against crude oil theft, illegal bunkering and refining, as well as other criminal activities in the creeks and waterways, noting that the government and the Nigerian navy had done a lot, to ensure better performance.
The crude oil theft is becoming worse, with a whole community/village now getting involved in artisanal/illegal refining of crude oil, especially into diesel, which is sold for local consumption, while the criminals are now role models in most of the communities, without the elders and monarchs being able to call them to order, as some of them aid them for pecuniary benefits.
Nigeria loses more crude oil than any other country in the world – more than seven per cent of daily production. The Federal Government of Nigeria and the oil companies suffer huge financial losses, an estimated $6 billion per annum.
An artisanal refining unit is a simplified petroleum distillation unit, which is conceptualised like a crude school science project. It can also be likened to the production of the local dry gin, commonly called “Ogogoro/kaikai.”
The aim of artisanal refining is to boil barrels of stolen crude oil with naked fire in a metal constructed sealed tank. The crude evaporates and passes through two parallel pipes, connected to the tank through a wooden constructed cooling water bath. The refined product then drips out slowly into a container at the other end, with different products emerging at different intervals.
Artisanal refining sites can be easily seen in creeks, forests and villages of the Niger Delta and it takes about three days to get up to five drums of refined petroleum products. After the refining processes, the products are filled into rubber and metal drums for transloading and storage, from where they are transported to their final destinations.
Since most of the artisanal refining sites are located near the creeks, the refined products are usually transported through the waterways to the neighbouring towns and villages, while transportation of large volume of crude oil to mother ships offshore is done by the use of barges.
The barges and Cotonou boats are usually anchored within the creeks, where they are filled with the required volume of crude oil, before they are transported and transferred into the mother ship, which can be in the coastal waters of Ghana or Benin Republic.
It is unlikely to visit jetties within any of the communities involved in illegal bunkering, without seeing piles of drums and rubber containers used for transporting the petroleum products.
Most of the locally-produced petroleum products (through artisanal refining) are transported to the cities, where they are probably mixed with the regular products and sold in conventional filling stations. The dominant product is diesel.
Since the tolerance of diesel engines is high, it is usually not easy to detect locally-refined diesel from the regular product.
A major driving force of the thriving illegal bunkering business in Nigeria is market demand. There is a huge local and international market for the crude oil stolen from Nigeria.
While the stolen crude oil is sold in countries within the West African sub-region and Europe, the locally-refined petroleum products are mostly sold in the local villages and towns, but now getting to Onitsha in Anambra State and Lagos.
A drum of locally-refined diesel goes for N7,000 in the creeks and as much as N12,000 to N15,000 in the cities.
The involvement of women in the whole process of illegal bunkering and artisanal refining is more or less secondary, because they are generally not involved in obtaining crude oil or in the refining process.
Women, however, play pivotal roles in the transportation and marketing of the refined products, as well as cooking and provision of sexual services for the predominantly male operators.
Children, mostly orphans and aged between 10 and 13, also work in the illegal bunkering sites and run errands at the camps, while absentee owners of illegal refining sites always appoint managers to run the operations.
In 2010, there were 1,500 illegal refining operations in the region, with Bodo Creeks in Gokana LGA of Rivers state harbouring over 1,000 youths, who were directly involved in illegal refining, which might have been higher now.
There are three main sets of actors involved in illegal bunkering: those who compromise the pipelines by breaking and installing taps on them to procure crude oil for sale; those who buy the crude oil for export and the local operators who process stolen crude oil into low quality fuels for the domestic market, with the three sets of actors referred to as oil thieves or illegal bunkerers.
Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta States account for 80 per cent of Nigeria’s onshore oil production and a predominant proportion of crude oil theft.
Illegal bunkering and artisanal refining are rooted in the grim economic and social circumstances of the Niger Delta. Poverty is endemic and unemployment is high. Nigeria loses $6 billion to oil theft annually. 28,000 people receive incomes directly or directly from illegal bunkering.
The illegal bunkering economy has an annual value of $9 billion. Those who export 80 per cent of the stolen crude oil are not poor people. They are connected to the political and military establishments, as well as the oil bureaucracy.
Concerted international action to check the Nigerian crude oil theft is not feasible, because the stolen crude oil represents a minor fraction of international crude oil traffic and does not present any credible threat to the world’s economy and international security.
Some Niger Delta youths are angry and have developed a deep sense of alienation. Their resort to illegal bunkering is an effort to earn a living and live their dreams, as well as being their expression of rebellion against the Federal Government.
Cult and militant groups also take part in illegal bunkering and artisanal refining processes in the Niger Delta.
Another important group that is involved in the illegal oil refining business is made up of individuals, who are not involved in any cult group, but are simply unemployed youths, with their ages ranging from 18 to 30.
The wages of the unemployed youths are usually calculated on a daily basis, but they normally get paid at the end of the week, when the products must have been evacuated and sold, while their wages vary according to the bunkering area. Some are paid N1,500 or N2,000 per day.
Marketers of the locally-refined products evacuate them from the producers and market them in bulk quantities. Then the women and children take over and sell to the members of the public in small retail units.
In some cases, stolen crude oil from pipelines are loaded in small barges and taken straight into the sea, where it is transhipped into larger barges (mother ships) in return for money and weapons. The practice has in recent years fuelled the violent communal clashes within the Niger Delta communities.
Artisanal refining is now undergoing structural changes, featuring concentration and centralisation, making possible oil theft on an industrial scale. The huge storage steel tanks being constructed and other requirements, including insurance in case of arrest, require considerable starter capital of about N1 million.
A major implication of this change is that many of the small operators of the past now work for the powerful “big boys” and financiers, who can muster the capital requirement and necessary law enforcement contacts for the protection of the business.
Workers and other people with legitimate livelihoods are investing in the illegal businesses of artisanal refining and bunkering, in order to provide for themselves an additional and more rewarding income stream.
The industry is also undergoing technical innovations, while expanding its commodity chain. Well paid specialists now drill the holes and install valves on them for siphoning crude oil from pipelines.
The fee for drilling a tapping point in some Niger Delta creeks is now between N250,000 and N300,000, with the changes giving the illegal bunkering and refining business the grounding for sustainability.
It was also confirmed that the nationals who are mostly involved in moving stolen crude oil are mainly non-English speaking, while it is common to sight Lebanese, Cameroonians, Pilipino, Romanians, Thais and Ghanaians, with the recipient refineries of crude oil stolen from Nigeria being in the United States of America, Brazil and the Gulf of Guinea.
Some naval officers are also believed to be willing tools.
Ibas said: “The navy has never tolerated its personnel conniving to wreck the nation. Any naval personnel that is involved in criminal activities will be sanctioned appropriately.
“Nigeria deserves a navy we all should be proud of. A navy that finds itself at sea, doing what other navies of the world do and not the navy that finds itself at shore, engaging in things that are strange to most navies. We are all aware that our nation depends majorly on the maritime environment for its survival and we are constitutionally mandated to ensure that the maritime domain is safe and secure, to enable us to reap from the resources therein, for the prosperity of our nation.
“In recent times, the insecurity in the nation’s maritime environments has denied our nation of the needed revenue for developments. If we continue on that line, even the navy, as an institution, will find it difficult to survive.”
The Commander of NNS Pathfinder (Commodore Shuwa Abdulrahim Mohammed), while briefing reporters, after destroying 78 illegal refineries and setting ablaze 1.9 million litres of stolen crude oil in the creeks of Rivers state, stated that the operations were part of navy’s efforts to put an end to crude oil theft and other maritime crimes in the nation’s waterways.
The commander of NNS Pathfinder, who was receiving the CNS, at the same time the illegal refineries were being destroyed, was represented by the Base Operations Officer, Commander Chidi Ejiofor, and noted that the naval personnel had carried out many operations, aimed at eradicating crude oil theft, illegal bunkering and operations of illegal refineries in the area.
Since the assumption of duty of Mohammed on May 15 this year, it was disclosed that the NNS Pathfinder had regularly been deploying gunboats for daily patrols and show of force along Port Harcourt and Bonny channels, as well as within the creeks in its areas of operations.
The commander of NNS Pathfinder said: “In all, from June 15, 2015 till date, the NNS Pathfinder has destroyed 78 illegal crude oil refineries and set ablaze 1.9 million litres of stolen crude oil in 65 days. Boats and many other items being used by the oil thieves were also destroyed.
“Our gunboats are deployed for patrols across various areas, including Onne, Bolo, Alakiri, Bile and Ke areas, Port Harcourt channels and Bonny areas.
“These deployments are in response to the Nigerian Navy’s renewed commitment and the Chief of the Naval
Officers of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) yesterday destroyed more than 260 illegal oil refineries in the creeks of Warri South council area in Delta state.
The men also destroyed not less than 5,000 metric tons of stolen crude oil.
Commander of the NNS Delta, Commodore Musa Gemu, disclosed these to reporters after a show-of-force exercise through many parts of the riverine Warri.
Speaking on the operation that destroyed the illegal refineries and stolen crude oil in Otegbene-Agbara community, Bennet Island and Jones Creek, all in Warri South council area, Gemu said the places touched were new hideouts for oil thieves.
He noted that the renewed commitment of the navy to combating illicit oil deal was in line with the zero tolerance of the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin on illegal bunkering along the waterways.
Gemu said that since those behind the dastardly act of sabotage have resolved not to stop, the navy has intensified its surveillance operations and destruction exercise along these creeks.
While lamenting the unrelenting persistence oil thieves, the Navy commander said their activities were not just impacting on the economy and the environment but on the lives of residents in the riverine communities.
He said: “We (Navy) are particularly concerned that in spite of what the federal government, NNPC, NDDC, and DESOPADEC had done and still doing to alleviate the poverty in this region through youth empowerments, job creation and educational up-liftment, some people are just not satisfied.
“They take to criminal activities as if it’s a way of life and that’s the more reason they indulge themselves in all sorts of criminalities along the creeks.”
Gemu warned those behind the dastardly act to desist or be prepared to face the music.
Youths under the aegis of Crusaders against Oil Theft (COT) have destroyed 10,000 metric tons of stolen crude oil in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
The youths, who decried the increasing rate of oil theft and proliferation of illegal refineries in the area, were led by their Coordinator, “General” Felix Timilaemi.
It was gathered that the youths set ablaze two illegal refineries operated in the creeks.
Timilaemi, an ex-militant leader, said COT fighters seized the illegal refineries at night and destroyed tanks containing over 10,000 tons of crude oil.
He said he led 29 members of his group for the operation, adding that the operators of the illegal refineries tried in vain to resist the raid.
“We overran the illegal refineries at night. It was a planned operation. We also destroyed four local boats, four pumping machines and other equipment worth millions of Naira used by oil thieves.
“When the illegal refinery operators saw us, they tried to resist our action but when they discovered that we were more in number, they abandoned their camps.”
He said the destroyed illegal refinery camps were located in Azagbene and Egbemangalabiri.
Timilaemi said his resolve to confront oil theft had pitted him against operators of the illegal business.
He expressed his commitment to the crusade, despite threats to his life.
“There have been threats to my life. It is expected because when you begin to destroy people’s misplaced and illegal means of livelihood, you expect them to react,”the ex-militant said.
He asked the government to partner with his group, explaining that they have the local intelligence to eradicate economic sabotage.
Timilaemi said with government’s backing, his group would expand their operations to other states.
He reiterated the need for the government to provide security for members of his group.
He said: “Government should partner with us to enable us fight this cause to the end. We need government’s backing to stop this sabotage. I am calling on oil communities and companies to partner with us.
“We know the people and their locations and we have the capacity to stop them. Our next line of action is to check the ships coming into the creeks. We are going to burn anything related to oil theft.
“Our boys are on patrol 24 hours. We patrol the sea but most times you won’t know that we are there. So, we are calling on the government to support this cause because if nothing is done, this thing can sink our economy.”
The Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, has impounded a barge, Dera 1, for allegedly carrying suspected stolen crude oil on Brass waterways in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
The Media Coordinator, Lt. Col. Mustapha Anka, said the barge was intercepted by troops from Sector 2 command.
He said the barge was in JTF custody and will be handed over to a prosecuting agency.
Col. Anka said JTF destroyed eight illegal refineries operated near Tebidade Brass Agip pipeline in Gbaramatoru, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.
“We destroyed five crude oil and Automated Gas Oil (AGO) dumps filed with suspected illegally-sourced crude oil,” he said.
The JTF spokesman said the maritime component of the JTF patrolling Okpumani creek in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State destroyed two wooden boats, containing products suspected to be stolen crude oil.
He said two pumping machines and a fibre boat were destroyed by the operatives.
Col Anka said the JTF handed over a ship, MV LAME, to the management of Sea Tide Marine Ltd.
He said the vessel was impounded on July 9, last year, at Bonny Anchorage for carrying about 100,000 liters of illegally refined Automated Gas Oil (AGO).
The JTF spokesman said after investigations the product was found to be unadulterated AGO.
Col Anka said the representative of Seatide Marine Ltd, Adebayo Adekite, received the vessel at the Bonny Anchorage, Rivers State.
The Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Delta, Warri Naval Command said it destroyed 265 illegal refineries and burnt 100, 000 tonnes of locally refined diesels in the last three weeks.
The illegal refineries and the products were destroyed in two separate operations inside the Warri creeks.
The NNS Delta Commander, Capt. Musa Gemu, who assumed duty in February, told NAN on Thursday that his command would not condoled illegalities in the creeks.
“We will deal decisively with oil thieves and pipeline vandals in my areas of responsibilities,’’ Gemu warned.
He recalled that on March 15 he led a team of Naval officers to Oteghele Phase one and two forest in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta.
In the operation that lasted over eight hours inside the forest a significant landmark was recorded.
Gemu said the Navy destroyed 260 underground refineries and over 100,000 tonnes of diesels.
He added that five suspects were arrested and two boats, two pumping machines and a generating set were recovered.
Similarly, on April 7, the Navy combed the Isaba forest in Ogbe-Ijoh, Warri South-West and in the process destroyed five illegal refineries and 31 drums of locally refined diesel.
A welding machine and a generating plant were recovered, adding that there was a decline in the illegal activities and the operations were yielding results.
“We can see that the rate of illegal oil bunkering is declining in the creeks. We are able to destroy only five refineries and 31 drums of locally refined diesel.
He assured that the command would not relent on its oars until the illegality was eradicated.
“It is going to be a routine operation until oil theft is nipped in the bud,’’ he said.
Gemu warned the perpetrators to desist from illegal bunkering, noting that it was an economic sabotage, adding that anyone caught would face the wrath of the law.
The commander urged host communities in the oil-rich region to support the Navy to eradicate crude oil theft.
The Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, has destroyed 308 illegal refineries in the Niger Delta this year.
The outfit impounded and destroyed 30 barges, 155 smuggling boats, 20 tanker trucks and 566 surface tanks.
This success was achieved by the outgoing Commander, Maj-Gen Iliyasu Abbah, who is bowing out after a month.
Abbah assumed control on January 10 and was posted to the Army Headquarters, Abuja, as the Military Secretary on February 10.
The commander listed his achievements within the short period when he handed over to the new commander, Maj.-Gen. Emmanuel Atewe.
Gen. Abbah said the outfit destroyed 275 drums of illegally refined products, 273 pumping machines and two outboard engines.
He said two vessels used for illegal bunkering were impounded.
Abbah said illegal oil bunkering would soon be eradicated with the cooperation of every stakeholder in the region.
He said: “During my stay as the commander, I have studied the situation in the region and have mapped out strategies to that effect but the exigency of service demands otherwise. I have been transferred to the headquarters as the military secretary.
“I will hand over those strategies to my successor. I believe with the cooperation of stakeholders in the region, illegal oil bunkering, pipeline vandalism, piracy and other illegalities will be eradicated soon.”
“Atewe is a committed military officer. He is going to do the work according to the mandate of the JTF. He is so good to handle the task. I have confidence in his abilities.”
Gen Atewe, a former commander of the Brigade of Guards vowed to tackle piracy, pipeline vandalism and illegal oil bunkering in the region.
He said he would study the situation in the Niger Delta and formulate strategies to tackle economic saboteurs in the region.
“I have to study the situation. It is my intention to professionally follow the mandate of the JTF to address the menace of piracy, pipeline vandalism, illegal oil bunkering and other illegalities in the Niger Delta,” he said.
THE Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, has destroyed 17 illegal refineries in four states in the Niger Delta.
The security outfit arrested eight suspected oil thieves during its patrols in Edo, Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa states.
JTF’s Media Coordinator Col. Onyema Nwachukwu said five of the illegal refineries were demolished in Edo and Delta states by the 3 and 19 battalions as well as JTF’s NNS Delta of Sector 1 Area of Responsibility (AoR).
He said the troops also impounded 40 Cotonou boats used in conveying stolen products.
Col. Nwachukwu said the oil thieves and owners of the illegal refineries operated with 300 metal tanks, 64 plastic storage tanks, 72 drums, 68 cooking ovens, four pumping machines and one Lister generator.
The media coordinator said the illegal refineries were destroyed at Takular, Otegele 1, Okpogbene and Ovulaiye area of Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State.
He said the troops also impounded a tug boat with 30 drums of stolen petroleum at Ajide on Benin River in Edo State.
“The Cotonou boats and other apparatus were destroyed, while the six suspects nabbed have been moved to the Tactical Headquarters”, Col. Nwachukwu said.
In Rivers State, the JTF spokesman said operatives of 29 Battalion and Gun Boat Detachment patrolling the waterways and creeks of Soku–Ofumakiri, Bolo, Oloma and Isaka destroyed four illegal refineries.
He said the owners operated with 40 cooking ovens, 30 plastic storage tanks, 50 drums, one welding machine, two pumping machines and a 45 KVA generator.
Col Nwachukwu said the troops impounded a Cotonou boat with 86 drums of illegally refined Automated Gas Oil (AGO).
He said the illegal refineries and their equipment were scuttled in situ while two suspects arrested were taken to the Sector 2 Headquarters.
In Bayelsa State, he said troops of 343 Regiment patrolling the waterways shut down eight illegal refineries and destroyed six Cotonou boats in Tebidaba and Igbematoru communities of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.
“The operatives also scuttled 69 metal drums and two pumping machines used by the oil thieves to operate the illegal refineries,” the JTF spokesman said.
He said the suspects were being investigated and would be handed over to relevant prosecuting agencies.
The Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, has uncovered a new militant camp in Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State.
The Media Coordinator, JTF, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said yesterday that the camp was discovered and destroyed by the troops of Sector 3 of the military outfit.
Nwachukwu, who spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, said the criminal hideout was popularly known in the area as Efut Esighi militant camp.
“The camp served as a firm base for sea robbers and kidnappers from where they usually launched attacks on unsuspecting victims,” he said.
During the clampdown, Nwachukwu said the troops recovered “24 x 7.62mm round of cartons, five browning machine gun ammunition, 3 x 7.62mm round of special and seven live cartridges.”
He named other items recovered as four machine gun belts and one passport fibre boat belonging to Inland Waterways Agency.
The JTF media coordinator said operatives of the outfits in operations, which lasted for 12 days, clamped down on 59 illegal refineries in creeks.
He said troops of 3 and 19 battalions covering Edo and Delta states destroyed three of the illegal refineries.
Nwachukwu said the refineries were built and operated by oil thieves in a forest at Agbede and Egwua in Esako West and Warri South West local government areas of Edo and Delta states.
He said the troops destroyed seven steel surface tanks, seven locally-fabricated ovens used for heating up stolen crude oil, 235 metal drums and four dugout pits containing stolen crude oil.
Nwachukwu said 56 of the illegal refineries were shut down by the troops operating in Rivers and Bayelsa states.
He said 16 Cotonou boats, 22 pumping machines, one generator, 25 zinc plates, one welding machine and 32 pipes were burnt by the troops at the refineries.
Nwachukwu said: “The clampdown was carried out during the recent anti-oil theft patrols of the waterways of Bonny, Kporghor, Igbematoro and Lasukugbene communities in Bonny, Tai and Southern Ijaw local government areas of Rivers and Bayelsa states.
“The troops also impounded four metal barges and a speed boat caught engaging in oil bunkering.
“During the anti- oil theft operations, which lasted from November 11 to 22, seven suspects were arrested for oil theft related offences and are undergoing preliminary investigations before they will be handed over to relevant prosecuting agencies.”
