Navy, task force uncover illegal refinery in Rivers

A joint operation by the Nigerian Navy and the Federal Government Inter-Agency Task Force on Petroleum Theft has uncovered a 40,000 litres capacity illegal refinery in Bonny Island, Rivers State.

The authorities said the illegal refinery was hidden deep within the creeks in Bonny.

The operation followed actionable intelligence coordinated through the Joint Intelligence Monitoring Team involving personnel from several security and intelligence agencies.

Speaking with newsmen in Bonny on Friday, the Commanding Officer of the Nigerian Navy Forward Operating Base, Bonny, Captain Stanley Umeh, described the discovery as the biggest his team has made since he assumed control of the command in March 2026.

Umeh said navy gunboats departed Bonny carrying operatives into the creeks, where the team trekked through dense vegetation before arriving at the clandestine facility.

“This discovery here is a product of long-time synergy between the base and other security agencies within the island and outside. It has been a product of actionable intelligence over time,” he stated.

 Umeh explained that unlike many illegal refineries previously encountered where crude had already been deposited or processed, the latest discovered facility was at a preparatory stage.

“Most times, we see illegal refineries with pits and crude deposited inside. Some have already cooked, and some are yet to be cooked. But this discovery is like nipping the act in the bud.

“This is their preparatory stage. You could see from the build-up and the set-up of the illegal refinery, it’s meant to be a very big one that would see the siphoning or stealing of crude and brought here for cooking in large quantity,” he said.

• Navy uncovers 40,000-litre illegal refinery in Rivers, arrests three
• Wike slams Amaechi for blaming Tinubu for mother’s death
• Remain neutral in political matters, Nwuche tells monarch

Umeh added that the discovery was a major boost to the fight against crude oil theft aimed at increasing Nigeria’s crude oil production.

 “This discovery is a plus to the fight against crude oil theft in Nigeria, towards increasing the production or crude sales production in the country,” he said.

 The navy commander also assured residents that the force would intensify surveillance and patrols across the waterways and remote areas of Bonny.

“It’s been a zero tolerance for us, both in and out of the waters. It’s been zero tolerance for this kind of illegality within Bonny Local Government Area generally,” Umeh added.

While acknowledging the difficulty of detecting facilities concealed in the thick vegetation, he said the Navy would expand its land and water surveillance operations.

“We will continue to raid and make sure they have no hiding places. It is a zero tolerance,” Umeh said, adding that the operation was in line with the Chief of Naval Staff’s strategic directive on crude oil theft.

Also speaking, the Head of Investigation of the Special Prosecution Team of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Petroleum Theft, Omar Sini, said the discovery was the result of collaboration between intelligence, security and law-enforcement agencies.

Sini said the task force, inaugurated by the Federal Government on March 1, 2025, was established to investigate and prosecute illicit activities in the country’s hydrocarbon sector.

He however called for stronger sentencing provisions for petroleum theft offences, saying existing penalties do not always provide sufficient deterrence.