The Federal Government’s Special Prosecution Team of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Petroleum Theft said that since its inception, it has secured 137 convictions of oil thieves from different courts of competent jurisdiction.

This comes as the Nigerian Navy and the Inter-Agency Task Force discovered a 40,000-litre capacity illegal crude oil refinery in Rivers State.

The discovery was made during a joint operation involving men of the Nigerian Navy and the Task Force at a creek in Bonny Local Government Area of the state on Friday.

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

Speaking, 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 command in March 2026.

Umeh noted that the facility deep in the creeks was still at the preparatory stage, adding that refining had not fully resumed at the site, and that the discovery represented an important development in the fight against crude oil theft and efforts to increase Nigeria’s crude oil production.

He said: “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.

“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.”

“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 promised residents that the force would intensify surveillance and patrols across the waterways and remote areas of Bonny.

Umeh said: “It’s been zero tolerance for us, both in and out of the waters. It’s been zero tolerance for this kind of illegalities within Bonny Local Government Area generally.

“It is also within the Chief of Naval Staff Strategic Directive that we ensure zero tolerance of all crude oil theft within our maritime corridors.”

However, the Head of Investigation of the Special Prosecution Team of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Petroleum Theft, CSP Omar John Sini, said it has secured 137 convictions since its formation in 2025.

Sini said the discovery at Bonny was the result of collaboration between intelligence, security and law-enforcement agencies.

He attributed the latest operation to intelligence supplied by the Joint Intelligence Monitoring Team led by Major General A.A. Idris under the supervision of the Chief of Defence Staff.

He said: “Since inception to now, we’ve been able to secure at least 137 convictions, and that is largely responsible for the drop in the illicit activities in the hydrocarbon sector.”

He revealed that the intelligence team comprises personnel from several agencies, while the Special Prosecution Team focuses primarily on investigation and prosecution.

“As we were working as a team with them, by sheer providence, the commander, my elder brother here beside me, was also working. So you can imagine that when we put these two teams together, within no time, we deploy relevant technology, identify and track this location.

“The primary purpose of law enforcement is to detect crime. We don’t even want it to occur so that we don’t be reactive, we want to be preventive.”

He revealed that three suspects linked to the financing of the operation in the area are already in custody.

He said: “We’ve been able to detect; we allowed them to invest their money, their hard-earned resources, and they’ve built this refinery with an amount that would be running into millions of Naira.

“What we are about to do after now, in accordance with law, is that we are going to treat this place in accordance to extant laws, and afterwards, face and prosecute the culprits already in custody.”

He, however, said the objective was to ensure that convictions for petroleum theft offences resulted in punishment capable of deterring further criminal activity. (Vanguard)

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