NSCDC destroys massive illegal refinery

Rivers State Command, Anti-Vandal squad of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), has destroyed a gigantic illegal refinery field at Local Government Area of Adobi-Akwa settlement in Etche, River state.

CSC Peters Ibiso, the Head of the quad, stated the illegal refinery was sited in a forest, about seven kilometres from the main town.

Ibiso, who represented Rivers State Commandant, Basil Igwebueze said the team sighted where the pipeline vandals tapped into the wellhead of yet to be yet-to-be-ascertained multinational company, connected their galvanized pipes to many cooking pots, heat the crude to produce Automotive Gas Oil (AGO).

He said: “Upon receiving a tip-off, the Anti-Vandal operatives swung into action to uncover this illegal oil bunkering site, they were in this forest for two days having cordoned the area; unfortunately the perpetrators upon sighting our men took to their heels but the investigation is still ongoing to effect the arrests of such defiant elements”.

Ibiso in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer, NSCDC, Rivers, Oluremi Ayedele narrated the operational techniques of the illegal refinery owners.

He said from the extraction of crude through vandalism of oil pipelines, they took it for cooking in various ovens where the content was subjected to high temperatures and transmitted through pipes to reservoirs for storage and onward trans-loading to buyers.

He said that the command would not relent in the fight against illegal dealings in petroleum products and that the public should trust the NSCDC by providing actionable intelligence that could enhance the possible arrest of economic saboteurs in the state.

The statement said: “Our commitment to continuously work in tandem with the prosecutorial mandate of the corps in order to rid the state of economic saboteurs remains unchanged, we value our informants and most especially the intelligence-driven tip-off received from time to time.

“It is also our duty to ensure that our source of information is not disclosed so as to protect our informants, it is, therefore, our delight that the public will continue to have confidence and trust in us as we together protect the nation’s critical national assets and Infrastructure from daredevil vandals.”