Photos of Massive Oil Bunkering Site Uncovered by Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt

Posted by Odinaka on Thu 03rd Sep, 2015 - tori.ng

The Nigerian Army said it has uncovered a massive illegal oil bunkering site at the Makoba Beach in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Brig. Gen. Stevenson Olabanji (right) and other officers, during a raid on an illegal oil bunkering site, Tuesday. (NAN).

Commander of 2 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Brig. Gen. Stevenson Olabanji, has told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Port Harcourt that it has uncovered a massive illegal oil bunkering site at the Makoba Beach in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Report reveals that the site is just a kilometre away from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and two kilometres away from the Rivers State Government House, as thousands of litres of illegally refined automotive gas oil, AGO, popularly called diesel were discovered at the site.

While the Makoba Beach operation came as a big surprise considering its closeness to government quarters, Gen. Olabanji disclosed that Army operatives were immediately deployed to the site on getting the information.

“About 16:40 hours on Monday, we got information that some illegal bunkering activities were going on along Makoba Beach. On arrival, our personnel discovered illegal activities which involved bunkering of illegally refined petroleum products and lifting of diesel onto local boats.

At the site, we found more than 5,000 drums loaded with illegally refined diesel; four tanker trucks containing 132,000 litres of diesel combined, and a barge with 165,000 litres of stolen diesel. This discovery is unprecedented because since we started our operations 10 days ago, this is about the biggest that we have uncovered.”

About 5,150 drums containing illegally refined diesel discovered during the raid. (NAN)

Olabanji said that additional 150 drums loaded with about 3,150 litres of diesel, were also discovered in 21 ‘Cotonou boats’. He said that 13 suspects were arrested at the scene of the illegal activity, adding that the illegal bunkering dump had not yet been set ablaze, in line with the Joint Task Force, mandate because of its closeness to residential buildings and the NPA.

“Our mandate requires us to destroy the site in situ, but we cannot do this because it will degrade the environment and affect residents since it is situated in the heart of Port Harcourt. Our plan is to move them to a safe location for destruction.

“Let it be known that the Army will not and will never tolerate illegal bunkering in our area of responsibility,” he assured, and called on the public to provide the JTF with timely information which could lead to the arrest of oil thieves and pipeline vandals.