Military seizes 59 suspects and destroys 34 illicit refinery installations

In two weeks, Operation Delta Safe troops have detained 59 suspected oil thieves and discovered and destroyed 34 illegal refining installations, among other criminal elements.

Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, director of defence media operations at military headquarters, said this Thursday in Abuja while briefing reporters.

According to Buba, the forces also damaged 89 cooking ovens, six pumping machines, three outboard engines, 21 boats, 57 storage tanks, 38 dugout pits, three tapping hoses, and four drum receivers.

In addition, 696,250 gallons of stolen crude oil, 54,400 litres of illegally refined AGO, 1,200 litres of PMS, two motorcycles, four firearms, and 78 different rounds of ammunition, according to him, were found by the army.

In Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, and other states in the Niger Delta region, he claimed, the army had maintained momentum against crude oil theft activities and denied criminals freedom of action.

Buba claimed that at the time, troops of operation UDO KA in the South East carried out raids on terrorist hideouts, killed terrorists, and detained suspects in the states of Abia, Enugu, Imo, and Anambra.

He said that the military killed 11 IPOB/ESN terrorists, detained 20, freed 15 hostages who had been taken prisoner, and recovered many calibres of weapons and ammo.

He continued by saying that the air component of Operation UDO KA also used rockets and cannons to bomb the locations of specific terrorists, neutralising some of them and destroying their infrastructure.

He claims that the competent authorities have received all seized materials, detained suspects, and freed hostages for further action. (NAN)