The Nigerian navy’s Director of Information, Commodore Christian Ezekobe, stated that the country arrested 11 suspected oil thieves and destroyed 13 Cotonou boats laden with suspected stolen crude oil, Vanguardreported. He added that naval operatives organized by the Naval Forward Operation base in the Escravos, arrested the suspects during raids on illegal refinery sites around Jones, Sara and Oporoza Creeks of Warri South West Local Government Area.

Ezekobe said: “The team also recovered two speed boats and a Cotonou boat carrying 20 tanks of different capacities measuring a total of 160,000 litres of illegally refined Automotive Gas oil (AGO),” according to Punch Nigeria.

In early September 2016, the Navy had also destroyed six speedboats carrying 30 drums laden with illegal refined AGO in another operation in Onne, Rivers State.

Egypt Oil&Gas reported earlier that Nigeria’s oil and gas industry has longed suffered from illegal activities like theft and siphoning, driving oil production down to 1.4m b/d in May 2016.