No fewer than eight persons suspected to be pipeline vandals have been arrested in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State.
\nThe suspects were nabbed by operatives of a task force set up by the council chairman to fight illegal oil bunkering in the area.
\nThe team, in an operation led by the Akuku-Toru Local Government Chairman, Hon Rowland Sekibo, last Wednesday, also destroyed 27 illegal refineries in Obonoma creeks in the LGA.
\nSekibo said four of the sites were destroyed at Agama creek, adding that the operation was still on.
\nHe said, \u201cA total of six locally-fabricated ovens\/artisanal refineries and five oil reservoirs filled with products suspected to be crude oil and refined petroleum products allegedly owned and operated by one Mr Ikior, were discovered.
\n\u201cThe task force was able to manually dismantle and destroy the ovens to avert any outbreak of fire that will further pollute the already combustible environment, thereby adding to the menace of black carbon in the atmosphere, rather than diminishing its effect.
\n\u201cOn Sunday, January 23, 2022, which was the Day Two of the clampdown on illegal bunkering, alias \u2018Kpofire\u2019 in AKULGA, the task force on illegal bunkering, with the assistance of the joint team of the military and para-military personnel, invaded yet another camp situated deep in the creeks of Fonosama and Agama in Obonoma community, where we uncovered another four illegal refinery sites and makeshift storage facilities. The owner of the camp is yet to be identified.
\n\u201cOn Monday, January 24, 2022, members of the task force and a team of combined military and para-military personnel, uncovered more sites in the mangrove swamps of Fonosama in Obonoma, were a total of 10 locally-made refineries and over 20 reservoirs, containing products suspected to be crude oil and already refined petroleum products, were stored. The alleged owner of the site is one Mr Portus.\u201d
\nSekibo noted that the task force dismantled the ovens and the makeshift huts, and confiscated some equipment on the site, adding that a total of 27 illegal oil refineries were uncovered and destroyed in Obonoma.
\nHe said the team arrested eight suspected pipeline vandals, adding that they were apprehended with their equipment.
\nThe council boss called on the youth of AKULGA to desist from the criminal venture and reconsider the harm it was causing to the environment.
\nSimilarly, as part of his commitment to rid the LGA of illegal bunkering activities,Sekibo, and the taskforce on illegal bunkering, together with members of the local vigilante and a joint team of the Nigerian Navy, Department of State Service (DSS), and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), stormed Idama community, last Thursday, in continuation of the clampdown on illegal refineries in the area.
\nA total of six locally fabricated tanks\/ovens used for the refining of crude oil were discovered, including seven metal and two dugout reservoirs containing petroleum products and its derivatives at Kala Idama and Imokolo in Akuku-Toru LGA.
\nAlso found at the illegal bunkering site, which appeared to be in active production, were materials for the construction and assemblage of another artisanal refinery, and a makeshift camp of about eight huts.
\nThe task force was able to manually dismantle the tanks, confiscate the materials on site, and also destroy the makeshift camps.<\/p>\n

By: Nelson Chukwudi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No fewer than eight persons suspected to be pipeline vandals have been arrested in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State. The suspects were nabbed by operatives of a task force set up by the council chairman to fight illegal oil bunkering in the area. The team, in an operation led by the Akuku-Toru Local […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n