On Wednesday, men from the Nigerian Navy’s Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Igbokoda, Ondo State, demolished four illicit refineries worth N20 million.
The illegal refineries were dismantled in the state’s Ilaje Local Government Area, namely in the Awoye neighborhood.
The Base’s Commander, Navy Captain Wasuku Alushi, revealed that the illicit refineries’ locations were located using aerial surveillance.
Alushi noted that the operation was part of a larger effort to combat criminal activities such as kidnapping, crude oil theft, and illegal bunkering along the state’s coastline.
“You would recall that two weeks ago, the Nigerian Navy forward operating base in Igbogoda, under the directive of the Nigeria Flag Officer Commanding, launched a special operation here.
“The essence is for us to extend our tentacles to be able to checkmate some of the criminal activities in the riverine environment, especially kidnapping, crude oil theft, and illegal bunkering.
“The terrain was a very difficult one; it is a whole network of criminal enterprises. As you can see, there is stolen crude. The strategy is threefold. The first is to arrest the criminal elements at the point of stealing the crude.
“We have deactivated those illegal refineries; the next step is to crush the relics, which would discourage them even when they have the thought of reactivating those refineries.”