By Samuel Oyadongha
Yenagoa—The Joint Task Force, JTF, in the Niger Delta, codenamed Operation Pulo Shield, has arrested 21 Ghanaians and five Nigerians in an operation to curtail rising cases of crude oil theft, illegal refineries and pipeline vandalisation in the Niger Delta waterways.

It was learnt that the special security forces drawn from 130 Battalion, Sector 2 of the JTF made the arrests Monday in what a security source described as discreet raid.

Acting on a tip-off, the operatives were said to have trailed two vessels, MT Ani and MT Oso, carrying illegal crude and intercepted them on Sombeiro River in the South-Eastern part of Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Following a search on the vessels, the operatives were said to have discovered 650,000 metric tonnes of stolen crude oil.

Media Coordinator, JTF, Lt. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, who confirmed the development, said the vessels were destroyed by the security outfit.