In furtherance of its avowed aggression against economic sabotage and crude oil theft, the Nigerian Navy has destroyed some illegal refining sites as well uncovered tapped wellheads in Cawthorne Channel in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Personnel of Forward Operating Base (FOB), Bonny, under the auspices of the recently launched Nigerian Navy ‘Operation Delta Sanity’, destroyed the illegal refining sites on Thursday, January 25, 2024 using swamp buggy and other heavy equipment.

The Commanding Officer of the NNFOB, Bonny, Commodore Reginald Adoki described the operation as “a proactive measure to curtail criminal activities while preventing environmental degradation, amongst others”.

The operation, which also had men of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder, was conducted to dismantle illegal refining sites in the State including areas such as the Cawthorne Channel 1, Sodienyekiri and Birakiri.

Kristina Reports observed that the illegal refinery site discovered at Cawthorne Channel 1 had a hose rigged to a wellhead to siphon crude oil into a reservoir.

A total of 8 constructed ovens, 9 storage tanks and several reservoirs were destroyed during the operation.

Pertinently, the illegal refinery sites, known for their adverse impact on the environment, were identified and neutralised in a decisive effort to stop economic sabotage by oil criminals while protecting the environment.

Personnel of FOB Bonny also discovered two wellheads connected with hoses adjacent to “God-Can-Do-A-New-Thing” Community around the Cawthorne Channel.

The hoses, which were pinned to the seabed, were used to siphon crude oil from the wellheads into a constructed and hidden reservoir.

Cdre Adoki told Kristina Reports that the Nigerian Navy was making efforts to contact the owners of the wellheads for the removal of the hoses and the clamping of the breeched wellheads.

He noted that the ‘the operation today is the first of series planned to clear the Cawthorne Channel axis and other places within the Area of Operations of such illegal sites”.

He also noted that Nigerian Navy recognises the urgency of addressing illegal bunkering activities and the resultant environmental degradation hence the adoption of the swamp buggy for the dismantling.

He further asserted that the operation marks a significant step in actualizing the objectives of Operation Delta Sanity which are to combat crude oil theft and illegal bunkering.

He stated that “under Operation Delta Sanity, the Nigeria Navy has come all out and is poised more than ever to rid the Niger Delta of crude oil theft and illegal oil bunkering in line with the strategic directives of the CNS, Vice Admiral EI Ogalla”.

He further affirmed that as part of the Nigerian Navy’s commitment to transparency, further investigations into the criminal networks associated with these illegal refinery sites are underway.

He enjoined the public to cooperate with the Nigerian Navy by providing any relevant information that would aid in the ongoing efforts to dismantle these criminal networks.