ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – The Nigerian Navy has averted pirate attack on three merchant vessels, namely MV MOXON, MT AFRICAN BEAUTY and MT MADONA.
The Director of Information (DINFO), Commodore Christian Ezekobe, in a statement on Tuesday, said that the vessels were attacked around Brass waterways in Bayelsa State on May 3 and 4.
The criminals, Ezekobe said, made spirited effort to seize the vessels but the timely response of the special protective team deployed by the Nigerian Navy successfully dislodged the pirates who fled to evade arrest.
In a related development, he said that the the naval patrol team deployed by NNS PATHFINDER on May 4 discovered and destroyed two active illegal crude oil refineries located at NAFCON creek.
He said that the refineries had seven storage tanks containing about 10,000 litres of stolen crude oil and 20,000 litres of illegally refined AGO.
“This is even as the patrol team destroyed a warehouse used by the criminals to hide illegally refined products. The massive warehouse located at Ikpokiri community in Rivers State had GP tanks containing suspected illegally refined AGO,” he stated.
According to Ezekobe, the new tactics of using warehouses by the crude oil thieves has been noted seriously.
He said that “the Nigerian Navy is warning owners of warehouses in the Niger Delta area to avoid the temptation of leasing out their properties to the criminals”.
The DINFO further warned that the Service will not be held responsible for damages done to the properties in the course of the current clampdown on crude oil theft, vandalism and piracy in the area.
