Stolen Petroleum Product Finally Discovered In Lagos

   The Nigerian Navy Ship,NNS Beecroft, Apapa, Lagos, has uncovered two coastal communities in Lagos State, where oil thieves used as loading bay of stolen petroleum product .

Consequently, 90 drums filled with 250 litres of petroleum products were recovered in a fiber boat , in one of the communities located in the Ijegun area of the State.

Another tanker loaded with 180 litres of AGO and some 25 litres jerricans, was recovered in Folu community in Ibeju Lekki, area of the State.

The Commander, NNS Beecroft, Commodore Kolawole Oguntuga, who made the disclosure yesterday, at the NNS Beecroft jetty, told journalists that the recoveries were made barely five days after the Nigerian Navy launched Operation Water Guard, aimed at making the waterways unconducive for oil thieves and other maritime illegalities.

He explained that ” As part of the tremendous successes of this operatoon, on November 11 , 2023, around 2.20 am, based on reliable intelligence of movement of product in a blue fiber boat, men of Nigerian Navy Ship Beecroft and Operation Awatse a maritime component, were despatched

to a community around Ijegun, where this large fibre boat (pointing at the exhibits) with over 90 drums filled with 250 litres capacity petroleum product suspected to be Premium Motor Spirit were recovered.

” The vessels assembled to carry out this Operation are enormous . In addition,
we have quick response teams stationed along the coast from Baadagry down to Lekki.

” Based on intelligence as well and deploying the Falcon Eye facility, we gathered that products in jerricans were being brought from neigbouring state were being transfered into tankers in Folu community in Ibeju Lekki, a boarder community between Lagos State and Ogun state . We found an 18,000 litres tanker with product suspected to be AGO, as well as pumping machines, hoses and jerricans”.

” The perpetrators abandoned the boat and product and abscounded, on sighting the men .
Apart from the fact that this product will not make Premium Motor Spirit available for Nigerians which the Nigerian Navy is trying to curb, it also has the potentials of triggering fire with catastrophic consequences on life and property”.

Describing what pepertrators realised from the sale of stolen petroleum product as Ill gotten wealth, Commodore Oguntuga said the money could also be used to sponsor violence, crime and many other vices.

He however, stated that the Nigerian Navy under the watch of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, was bent on curbing the menance.

He therefore, urged perpetrators of the illegal act, “particularly vessels that carry this product and try to compromise by giving them to perpetrators ,to desist from this act because henceforth, apart from the fact that we are going to bring them to book, we might be tempted to use force which could mean deactivating vessels that are found indulgung in this kind of economic sabotage”.

Commodore Oguntuga also appealed to parents and guardians to warn their children and wards to resist the temptation of indulging in oil theft and any other maritime illegality within the NNS Beecfrot’s jurisdiction, reminding that ” going forward, the Nigerian Navy and other security agencies will become very hard on perpetrators because we need to stop this nonsense.

” As the yuletide season approaches, we really want to stamp out this illegalities.
Nigerian Navy is really on aggressive patrol around the various pipelines conveying this product, day and night, with the deployment of human intelligence as well as electro optical equipment to scan round the maritome environment.

“Probably we have been using kids gloves on these guys. We are going to change our modus oparandi and force will be applied. Maybe this will send a strong message”, Commodore Oguntuga declared.