Nigerian Navy Arrests Suspected 15 Oil Thieves
No fewer than 15 suspected oil thieves and six vesssels were handed over to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), for prosecution in Port Harcourt on Sunday, November 8, by the Nigerian Navy .
The executive officer of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS), Olusegun Soyemi during the handover of the thieves disclosed that the suspects were arrested for their alleged involvements in unlawful bunkering.
READ ALSO: Nigerian Navy Intercepts Ship With Stolen Oil
He said: “One of the suspects was arrested while discretely discharging about 108,000 liters of diesel from a large wooden boat into five vessels without license. On October 20, we got intelligence report about an illegal bunkering activity at a private jetty situated opposite the busy Slaughter market around Trans-Woji area in Port Harcourt. On arrival at the jetty, our troops accosted five vessels and a large wooden boat loading products suspected to be stolen diesel.”
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Mr. Soyemi further disclosed that the vessels MV Denis, MV Faith, MV Lum, MV Eliora and FP Comfort had no approval from the Navy headquarters for transaction. Adding that, the prime suspect, who doubled as middleman for two companies, had provided useful information during the preliminary investigations.
News Agency of Nigeria reports that Mr. Soyemi also handed over three thousand metric ship and its 14 member crew who allegedly attempted to steal crude oil from the pipeline in the state.
READ ALSO: Navy Raids 6 Illegal Refineries, Seizes Products
“On October 2, troops of NNS Pathfinder impounded a 3,000 metric ton ship, MT Everest, which anchored at a location (few meters away from a pipeline) without any official reason to anchor there. We discovered the vessel which had been in operation since 2007 had no certificate of registration and clearance from the Nigerian Ports Authority and approval from the Navy in all of its operations. While examining the vessel, we discovered that the cargo tanks had been emptied and cleaned with hoses connected to the cargo tanks indicating its readiness to load petroleum products,” he said.
NSCDC head of anti-vandal unit, Rivers Command, Steven Morgan stated that thorough forensic investigation would be carried out on each of the suspects and that they would be prosecuted immediately if found guilty.
Source: Legit.ng
