Men of the Nigerian Navy, Forward Operating Base, FOB, Igbokoda, Ondo State, on Wednesday destroyed no fewer than four illegal refineries worth N20 million in the state.
The illegal refineries were destroyed in Awoye community in the Ilaje Local Government Area of the state.
The Commander of the Base, Navy Captain Wasuku Alushi, disclosed that the sites of the illegal refineries were discovered with the aid of ariel surveillance.
Alushi added that the operation was in tandem with the determination to checkmate criminal activities such as kidnapping, crude oil theft, and illegal bunkering within the coastal region of the state.
“You would recall that two weeks ago, the Nigerian Navy forward operating base in Igbogoda, under the directive of the Nigeria Flag Officer Commanding, launched a special operation here.
“The essence is for us to extend our tentacles to be able to checkmate some of the criminal activities in the riverine environment, especially kidnapping, crude oil theft, and illegal bunkering.
“The terrain was a very difficult one; it is a whole network of criminal enterprises. As you can see, there is stolen crude. The strategy is threefold. The first is to arrest the criminal elements at the point of stealing the crude.
“We have deactivated those illegal refineries; the next step is to crush the relics, which would discourage them even when they have the thought of reactivating those refineries.”
