The Joint Task Force (JTF) Operation Pulo Shield in its continued anti oil theft raid operations has arrested a sea going vessel christened SEA EXPRESS, laden with about 2,500 metric tonnes of stolen petroleum product along Okuboto creek in Bayelsa State.
According to a statement signed by JTF Media Coordinator, Lieutenant Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu, the vessel was on the verge of filling the fourth of its compartments before it was intercepted by a team of operatives from Sector 2 of the JTF.
The suspects and the vessel are in custody of Headquarters Sector 2 for preliminary investigations before handing over to a prosecuting agency. In the same vein, a Barge christened MONOVO-2 engaged in oil theft activities has been impounded along Golubo creek of Bayelsa State while conveying stolen petroleum product.
The crew on board the barge fled into the mangrove forest on sighting operatives of the JTF abandoning their barge. The Barge has been towed to AGIP Brass Terminal for safe custody while preliminary investigation is ongoing to unmask the owners of the vessel.
In another anti oil theft raid operation in Delta state by troops of the JTF, thirty open boats conveying illegally cooked petroleum products were intercepted along Aruton and Ugborodo Communities in Delta State.
The boats were arrested while loaded with plastics tanks filled with stolen petroleum product. The operatives also recovered other items including 11 hand gloves, one packet of electrode, a bunch of clips and 2 pumping machines.
Eight illegal crude oil distillery camps were also scuttled along Oboro, Kpukpugbene in Burutu and Sagara, near Escravos in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta state. A total of 9 steel tanks and 187 large plastic reservoirs used by the oil thieves to perpetrate the crime at the camp sites were scuttled in situ by the troops in line with the mandate of the task force.
During the entire operation that lasted from 7 to 14 April 2013, 21 suspects were arrested in these various crime locations. The suspects are currently undergoing preliminary investigations in various sectors of the Joint Task Force and will subsequently be handed over to prosecuting agencies
