The special squad of the anti-illegal oil bunkering troop  of the Joint Task Force (JTF) Operation Pulo Shield in collaboration  with Oil And Gas Task Force on illegal oil bunkering of the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area (LGA) of Bayelsa patrolling along Igbemetoru water ways of Southern Ijaw LGA of Bayelsa State  has discovered and extinct  13 active illegal oil distillery camps where oil thieves operate with illegal storage dumps, cotonou boats and pumping machine ,filled with stolen crude and Automobile Gas Oil (AGO).

      Other equipment discovered and destroyed includes plastic tanks and hoses for siphoning stolen crude oil from oil wells.

Both the sites and the discovered product together with the equipment were destroyed in line with the Task Force mandate in the Niger Delta.

      Similarly,troops  of the JTF in Edo State, while on patrol discovered 6 illegal oil refining camps at Okpogbene and Satama general area in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State where illegal oil bunkerers operates with four cotonou boats, 16 cooking oven and 35 drums filled with substances suspected to be stolen oil. Two suspects were arrested during the operation.

        Other items discovered include, 23 surface tanks filled with illegally acquired oil. The items were moved to safe area and destroyed while the suspects were taken into custody for preliminary investigations before handing them over to prosecuting agencies.

The troops patrolling Opumani community water ways in Warri South Local Government of Delta State also intercepted two cotonou boats containing illegally acquired AGO. Two speed boats and two pumping machines used by oil thieves were recovered and set ablaze.

Eight plastic tanks containing illegally acquired crude oil together with metal drums used for storing stolen oil were discovered at an illegal distillery camp at Okapi in Ndokwa East LGA of Delta state. No arrest was made as the suspects escaped on sighting troops while items recovered at the site were destroyed insittu.

  The constant and mobile nature of the Special Squad of JTF is in line with the commander JTF Major General Emmanuel Atewe’s zero tolerance campaign against oil theft and illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta region.