The Nigerian Navy has foiled an attempt to reactivate an illegal refining site in Rivers, recovering about 350 litres of illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO).
The Director of Naval Information, Capt. Abiodun Folorunsho, disclosed this in an operational report on Tuesday.
Folorunsho said the operation was conducted on Sunday by the Nigerian Navy Ship SOROH in the Okolomade general area of Abua/Odual Local Government Area.
He said the operation followed credible intelligence on plans to revive illegal refining activities in the area.
“Suspected operators fled on sighting the naval team, leaving behind the illegally refined product and two wheelbarrows believed to have been used in its movement,” he said.
According to him, personnel also revisited a previously disrupted illegal refining site in the Ogbogolo area.
He said the operation rendered remaining metallic ovens, storage tanks, and other associated infrastructure unusable.
Folorunsho said the action effectively prevented the facilities from being exploited by criminal operators.
He said the interventions demonstrated the Navy’s shift from merely disrupting illegal refining activities to denying operators access to infrastructure required to revive their operations.
He said the approach was aimed at constraining the resilience of illicit petroleum networks in the area.
