The Joint Task Force, codenamed, “Operation Delta Safe (OPDS)”, on Friday destroyed over 40 illegal refining sites in the Ukwa forest of Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia.
The JTF Commander, Rear Adm. John Okeke, who led the operation, said illegal refining of stolen crude oil was taking place in each of the sites.
He recalled he had earlier warned oil thieves in the area to desist from the illegal business or relocate to another area.
“Like I told you guys on the assumption of office on Feb. 15, 2024, the joint operation area of Operation Delta Safe will never be a haven for illegality, especially those criminals that have chosen to steal our oil.
“I made it clear then on the assumption of duty that if they are not ready to indulge in legitimate business, they have two options: either they relocate to another area or they embrace legitimate business.
“But here we are today in Ukwa West of Abia State, bordering Oyigbo LGA of Rivers State; the criminals felt that we would never get to this place, but here we are.
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“It is surprising to note that within here we have over 17 divisions according to their naming, each of these divisions has a cooking of over 40 sites,” he said.
Okeke said the joint task force had been able to traverse the 40 sites.
“Of course, behind me, you will see one that construction is ongoing; it’s far larger than two trucks.
“You can imagine the quantity of products they would have stolen and refined here.
“So, I want to say today, we are not going to relent to those of them that do not want to abide by extant regulations regarding petroleum products.
“I will advise them to relocate before we come for them,” he said.
The commander took time to explain some of the operations of the JTF to doubters.
“Sometimes, a lot of you begin to wonder but you can see yourself that we are under a thick forest, and even if you are flying your drones or helicopter, you will not be able to observe anything.
“But thank God for leveraging intelligence. That is why I will always call on the civil population as they are very critical to our operation.
“We have been partnering with the civil populace as this war against oil theft cannot be done by the military alone but with the cooperation of other components like the police and civil defence.
“Others are SSS, Immigration, and Customs. All of us. It cannot be done by government security agencies alone; we need your support, Nigerians.
“We need to rip off this from our joint operation area and support the federal government to stabilise the economy,” he said.
