Illegal Refineries With 4 Million Barrels Per Day Capacity Discovered in Rivers

The Nigerian Navy has said it has found six new illicit refineries with consolidated ability to refine four million liters of raw petroleum every day in Alakiri, Asari Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Capt. Victor Choji, Executive Officer of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder Port Harcourt, uncovered this while obliterating one of the unlawful refineries yesterday in Alakiri, Asari-Toru.

"The refinery (in Alakiri) has ability to create one million liters of refined oil based goods day by day, while the five different refineries have generation limit of three million liters every day," he said.

Choji said the refineries were found through serious insight gathering and covert tasks by maritime troops.

He said the naval force conveyed Swam Buggy machines to pulverize the metallic stockpiles and its pipelines to make it unimaginable for administrators of the refineries to restore the offices.

"This task is centered around hitting the very heart of their foundation, so the administrators don't have ability to regroup and continue their illegal exercises.

"We understood that at whatever point we set burning the refineries without the utilization of Swam Buggy machine, days after our troops leave the scene, the oil hoodlums return and resuscitate the refineries.

"In this way, the Navy concocted this system to guarantee that the pipeline system and metallic stockpiles at the unlawful office are totally pulverized.

The official officer, as per the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the swam carriage approach was likewise embraced to address wellbeing concern raised by inhabitants over carbon outflows (dark ash) in the air in the state and environs.

He said the system had prompted huge lessening of ash in the climate while likewise enhancing oceanic life in the sea condition.

"We began siphoning oil based commodities first before devastating the illicit refineries as a component of measures to take out sediment in the climate.

"In the wake of siphoning the item, it is then removed from the territory and gave over to specialists for testing and investigation," he said.

Choji said it would take troops in regards to seven days to move the oil based commodities and demolish the six unlawful refineries.