The Nigerian Navy Command, ‘NNS Delta’ on Wednesday revealed it has carried out the destruction of 1500 illegal refineries with its swamp buggy equipment in the creeks of Delta State in the last two months.
NNS Delta Commander, Commodore Ibrahim Dewu while making the disclosure in Warri explained that the ‘Swamp Buggy’ is an amphibious vehicle used to traverse a swampy terrain no matter the obstacle.
Commodore Dewu who has been relentless in tackling oil thievery said the destruction exercise was carried out in the creeks of Otumara, Ogbegugu and Okpuku in the Warri creeks.
While noting that personnel of Delta Command are presently in the Bennett Island in Warri South Local Government Area of the state in continuation of the exercise, the Commander revealed that perpetrators had devised means of preventing the soldiers and the swamp buggy from gaining access to the illegal sites.
He said they now resort to blocking the entrances with logs or setting fire around the sites noting however that these antics would not deter the soldiers from carrying out their statutory obligation of completely eradicating illegalities in the maritime domain.
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Dewu said, “It takes us time to remove the logs for our men and the swamp buggy to have access but we are determined.
“The antics of the criminal elements will not deter us from eradicating the illegality with the aid of swamp buggy which I believe will bring a lasting solution to economic sabotage.
“We decided to apply swamp buggy because it is more environment friendly and difficult for the perpetrators to resuscitate the illicit business since their facilities are also crushed completely in the process.
“Apart from that, we also do post-monitoring of the various sites we have destroyed to ensure that the criminals do not return to reactivate them.
“So far, the exercise has been successful and we will not rest on our oars until the illegalities are completely eradicated in our maritime domain”.
The Delta Commander regretted that the activities of the criminal’s were also contributing to the degradation of the ecosystem.
The Navy recalled that in one of the operations on Bennett Island on June 12, the criminals set fire around the vicinity of the illegal refinery to prevent the soldiers from entering.
Undaunted however, the naval operatives were able to create alternative means for themselves, and the swamp buggy to gain access and destroy the equipment of the criminals.
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