The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has arrested nine suspected oil thieves at an illegal refinery in a forest boundary between Rivers and Abia. This is according to a statement by NSCDC Public Relations Officer (PRO), Babawale Afolabi on Monday in Abuja.
Mr Afolabi said that based on the Corps’ dedication to wage war against illegal bunkering, the Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad (CGsSIS) laid intelligence surveillance at the site which aided in the successful arrest.
According to him, they also discovered an ongoing construction of a local refinery with the capacity to produce 60,000 litres of crude at once. At the massive illegal bunkering they also noticed large hoses and galvanized metal pipes laid to transfer stolen crude across the processing channels.
The Spokesperson said that interrogation of the suspects and further investigation has commenced, adding that the suspects would thereafter be charged to court.
He said the massive site contained over 15 Modular ovens with 4 fabricated reservoirs and 30 pits dug out to store processed AGO.
Meanwhile, the exhibits recovered are: RWD 5.0 GFE-6500 power generating set, two yellow colour pumping machines, metal and plastic buckets, cutlasses, saw, mats, welding Machine, galvanized metal pipes, different heavy-duty hoses, automotive gas oil (AGO) illegally processed in cooking ovens.