Over 30 illegal oil refinery installations were destroyed by airstrikes in Rivers, NAF

In the past two months, the air component of Operation Delta Safe has destroyed more than 30 illicit oil refining facilities at Cawthorne Channel and Bille in the Rivers’ Degema Local Government Area.

Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, the NAF’s director of public relations and information, announced this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

According to Gabkwet, the airstrikes intensified efforts to prevent oil thieves and operators of illegal oil refining sites from hurting the environment by bursting pipes and running their illegal oil refineries.

He said that on Friday, airstrikes at Cawthorne Channel damaged four operational illicit refinery sites that had surface storage tanks and dug-out reservoirs believed to hold illegally refined goods.

According to his account, similar airstrikes were also carried out at Bille on Saturday and in the early hours of Sunday, destroying three illegal oil refinery sites together with their reservoirs and storage tanks.

“In one of the sites, a Cotonou boat suspected of syphoning crude oil from a flow station was engaged in several passes and destroyed. In the last two months, Cawthorne Channel and Bille have accounted for the majority of oil theft and illegal oil refining activities in Rivers State.

“Within this period, over 30 illegal oil refining sites in these two locations have been destroyed by the land, maritime, and air components of Operation Delta Safe.

“These efforts will be sustained in these locations and others until oil thieves and their accomplices desist from their illegal activities,” the statement added.