We’re After Crude Oil Theft Sponsors –Naval Chief

WARRI THE Commander, Nigerian Navy Ship (NNSDELTA), Warri, Delta State, Commodore Rami Muhammed, has said that the Nigerian Navy has extended its war against illegal oil business beyond arresting the foot soldiers as they are taking the battle directly to the sponsors of crude oil theft with the arrest of three suspected sponsors already

Commodore Muhammed said that the Navy since he assumed command in the base in the past one and half months, has been able to reduce illegal refineries to a negligible level with the confiscation of 4200 metric tons of crude oil and when converted will give above 1000 tankers.

Speaking at the weekend when the Navy paraded 10 suspected oil thieves, who were on board a vessel (African Sky) laden with about 670 metric tons of substance suspected to be crude oil arrested at Forcados Terminal, the Commander NNSDELTA, said that they are winning the war.

“Yes when I resume command in this base, in my initial address, I said we are going to start with those illegal refineries, all those that are working in the creeks. And if you remember we have made several arrests which many of you witnessed and I can say within one and half months we have achieved so much that not much is taking place again within the creeks around us “
“That is why we have expanded now and we are going to the open sea. So it is not as if we have stopped within the creeks or the illegal refineries. The thing is that we have been able to diminish their operations so much that it is actually negligible.” “But we still go on patrol and make sure that they don’t spring up. All our operations are highly coded. We know that there is a lot of information being passed around here and there. So I will not reveal how we are going about our operations”.

All those who use to give information to illegal oil bunkers and other activities will not know when we are going and how we get to them. I know that there are people around us here that watch anytime our patrol boats are going out but now they won’t see that and we will still get to them, he said.