The commander of a Joint Task Force (JTF) code named, Operation Delta Safe, Rear Admiral Aminu Hassan, has said that men of the joint military task force have destroyed over 2,000 illegal refineries in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers within the period of three months.
Speaking during a visit by the European Union, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and Operation Delta Safe, Hassan disclosed that they also destroyed the machines used by illegal refiners.
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The spokesman of Operation Delta Safe, Major Victor Olukoya, in a statement quoted the commander as urging those indulging in such illegality to desist from it and find legitimate businesses to better their lives.
He said, “In one site here, you can get between 50 and 100 composite units, where everyone is operating, just like a market. Everybody is doing an illicit business in one market. That is how they operate.
“Mechanically, we are destroying their machines, which they are very fast in constructing.
“If you really want to suppress them you must be faster than them and work ahead of them. That is why we introduced these equipment. You will be on top of the situation to be ahead of them,” he said.
The deputy director-general, European Union Commission, Mr Mathew Baldwin, also said they were on a fact-finding mission to see things for themselves, adding that oil theft and illegal refining remained a big problem.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari, commended the JTF for the good work they are doing in the Niger Delta region to safeguard the country’s oil and gas assets.
He assured that Nigeria would soon curtail the breaches, adding that they came with development partners to see how much work was going on and how they could be of assistance to bring sanity, restore oil production and security for everyone.
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