Oil Theft: Troops Uncover Illegally Refined Products Concealed In Health Centre
Troops of 34 Artillery Brigade, in an offensive operation against oil thieves, have uncovered 57 sacks of illegally refined automotive gas oil (AGO) surreptitiously concealed in a community health centre at Egbema Shell and Egbema West respectively in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State.
Director, Army Public Relations, Brig Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, made this known in a statement on Tuesday.
TheFact Daily reports that the troops destroyed the illegal refining site, which was operated with several drums and crude oil ovens, laden with stolen crude oil, and a dug-out pit containing about 50,000 litres of crude oil.
In a separate operation on the same day, troops of 34 Artillery Brigade conducted an offensive operation also against oil thieves in a camp in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State, from where they recovered several items, including one crude oil cooking oven, three reservoirs, several connecting hoses and pipes, three mobile phones, one Power Generating set, 3 Pumping machines, one CCTV Camera mounted on a tree top, substance suspected to be cannabis and some fetish objects.
In another operation, a team of troops of 302 Artillery and 14 Field Engineer Regiments of the Nigerian Army (NA), captured two locally made Artillery Projectile Launchers from fighters of the Indigenous People of Biafra and its armed affiliate, Eastern Security Network (IPOB/ESN).
The troops, while conducting operations against terrorists, swooped on the dissident fighters, who fled in disarray on sighting the troops, deserting their camp.
In the course of the operation, one combatant of the dissident group was arrested while several items, including 48 rounds of 7.62 mm NATO ammunition, 4 mobile phones, one handheld communication radio were seized, in addition to the artillery weapons which were armed with projectiles. Also recovered was a substance suspected to be cannabis.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, while reiterating the NA’s commitment to maintaining peace and security in the country, continues to enjoin members of the public to provide credible information to security agencies to enhance ongoing operational efforts to improve security across the country.
