Troops of “Operation Delta Safe’’ uncovered and destroyed 96 illegal refining sites and apprehended 57 suspected oil thieves in the Niger Delta in the last one week.
The troops also discovered and destroyed 106 dug out pits, 111 boats, 229 storage tanks, 290 coking ovens, eight pumping machines, 10 outboard engines, two speedboats and one vessel within the period.
Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, stated on Friday in Abuja that the troops recovered 506,500 litres of stolen crude oil, 477,790 litres of illegally-refined diesel and 51,000 litres of kerosene.
He explained that the operations were carried out in Cross River, Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa.