…destroys illegal refining camps and products

By Akpokona Omofuaire

WARRI—THE special squad of the Joint Task Force, JTF, code named Operation Pulo Shield, has arrested 28 suspected oil thieves and destroyed illegally refined products, vehicles and equipment in the Niger Delta.

Lt. Col Ado Isa, Coordinator, Joint Media Campaign Centre, in a statement, said that one of the suspects was apprehended while attempting to bribe troops to release his seized products and personnel.

He said: “Our troops  arrested Mr Ogbe for attempting to bribe them with undisclosed sum of money in order to secure the release of trucks used in illegal bunkering earlier arrested by the JTF in Delta State.

“The trucks, filled with substance suspected to be stolen, were arrested along with two drivers of the trucks.  Mr Ogbe confessed to be the owner of the arrested trucks and their contents illegally sighoned from an oil company pipeline situated behind premium filling station in Effurum, Warri.”

He said that troops on searching Ogbe’s car discovered a small generator, connecting hoses and welding materials used for the operation.

“The trucks and the products were evacuated to a safe place and destroyed  while the suspects and the car are in the custody of the JTF for further investigation,” he added.

Isa stated that in another operation troops also arrested 25 suspects in six illegal distillery camps during oil bunkering and oil theft patrol along the sector one axis which comprises Ondo, Delta, and Edo states.

“The suspects      were arrested at an illegal oil bunkering site at Egbokodo, Beneath Island and Otegele, in Warri South and Warri South West Local Government Areas of Delta State where oil thieves operate with 23 pumping machines and 19 cooking pots,” he added.