Anti-Vandal squad of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Rivers State command has reported that it has destroyed a massive illegal refinery field at Adobi-Akwa settlement in Etche Local Government Area of the state.
Peters Ibiso who made this known said the illegal refinery was sited in a forest about seven kilometres from the main town where the pipeline vandals tapped into the wellhead of yet to be yet-to-be-ascertained multinational company, connected their galvanized pipes to many cooking pots, heat the crude to produce Automotive Gas Oil (AGO).
He said: “Upon receiving a tip-off, the Anti-Vandal operatives swung into action to uncover this illegal oil bunkering site, they were in this forest for two days having cordoned the area; unfortunately the perpetrators upon sighting our men took to their heels but the investigation is still ongoing to effect the arrests of such defiant elements”.
He said from the extraction of crude through vandalism of oil pipelines, they took it for cooking in various ovens where the content was subjected to high temperatures and transmitted through pipes to reservoirs for storage and onward trans-loading to buyers.
He therefore reiterated “It is also our duty to ensure that our source of information is not disclosed so as to protect our informants, it is, therefore, our delight that the public will continue to have confidence and trust in us as we together protect the nation’s critical national assets and Infrastructure from daredevil vandals.”