The Nigerian Navy said it intercepted about 128, 612 barrels of crude oil valued at about N2,598,219,624 and 15,317,150 litres of AGO valued at over N3 Million between January and May this year.
Also seized from oil thieves were 5,150 litres of petrol valued at about N1 million, and 3,193,251 litres of kerosene valued at about N606,717,690 within the time under review.
Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, made the disclosure at a press briefing to mark the 64 anniversary of the Navy at Naval Headquarters in Abuja.
He attributed the success of the fight against economic saboteurs to the increased effort of the NN Operation Bases especially through Operation River Sweep.
According to him, another key factor that contributed to the clampdown is the NHQ sensitisation and directives to all Bases on zero tolerance to Crude Oil Theft (COT) and illegal bunkering activities.
He said, “I am delighted to inform you that the current administration of NN is focused on capacity building in order to improve maritime security in Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea (GoG). The maritime threats that have significant effects in Nigeria’s maritime environment are piracy and sea robbery, Crude Oil Theft (COT), illegal oil bunkering, smuggling, Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUUF), insurgency, hostage taking as well as human and drug trafficking.”
“In order to combat these threats, the NN adopted the Total Spectrum Maritime Strategy (TSMS) to guide its operational engagements. The strategy is based on a proactive layered response within 5 conflict spectrums characterised by distances to and from the coast.
“Within the last four months, the NN conducted and also participated in 13 Exercises (Ex) and operations (ops) geared towards combating illicit activities in Nigeria’s territorial waters especially the back waters.”
