Over the course of the weekend, Operation Delta Safe’s Air Component achieved significant success in its mission to thwart oil theft and combat illegal oil refining activities while safeguarding the environment.
According to Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet the Air Force Spokesman, the operation’s airstrikes targeted Cawthorne Channel and Bille, both situated in Rivers State’s Degema Local Government Area, resulting in the identification and destruction of seven illegal refining sites.
In Cawthorne Channel, our team pinpointed four active illegal refining sites equipped with excavated reservoirs and surface storage tanks suspected to contain illicitly refined products.
On September 15, 2023, these sites were promptly neutralized. A similar series of air strikes was carried out in Bille on September 16 and the early hours of September 17, 2023. In Bille, three illegal oil refining facilities featuring storage tanks and reservoirs were eradicated.
Remarkably, during one of these operations, we engaged and destroyed a cotonou boat believed to be involved in siphoning crude oil from a nearby flow station.
Over the past two months, Cawthorne Channel and Bille have emerged as focal points for oil theft and illicit oil refining activities within Rivers State.
During this timeframe, the combined efforts of the Land, Maritime, and Air Components of Operation Delta Safe have resulted in the demolition of over 30 illegal oil refining sites in these areas.
We are committed to maintaining a sustained presence in these locations, as well as others, until oil thieves and their associates abandon their unlawful endeavors.