The Nigerian Army has made a substantial breakthrough in its fight against oil theft, with the uncovering of a huge illegal site near the Nigerian Ports Authority in Port Harcourt, which is described as “unprecedented.”

The Commandant of 2 Brigade Nigerian Army, Stevenson Olabanji, a Brigadier General, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Wednesday that a tipoff led to the discovery and the arrest of 13 suspects.

“About 16:40 hours on Monday, we got an information that some illegal bunkering activities were going on along Makoba Beach. On arrival, our personnel discovered illegal activities which involved bunkering of illegally refined petroleum products and lifting of diesel to local boats,” Olabanji said.

Makoba Beach is not far from the Rivers State Government House.

“At the site, we found more than 5,000 drums loaded with illegally refined diesel; four tanker trucks containing 132,000 litres of diesel combined, and a barge with 165,000 litres of stolen diesel.

“This discovery is unprecedented because since we started our operations 10 days ago, this is about the biggest that we have uncovered,” he noted, adding that 150 drums filled with diesel were also discovered in 21 Cotonou boats.

He said despite the Joint Task Force mandate for the destruction of illegal refineries, the site has not yet been set on fire because of its location in the heart of the city.

“Our mandate requires us to destroy the site in situ, but we cannot do this because it will degrade the environment and affect residents since it is situated in the heart of Port Harcourt.

“Our plan is to move them to a safe location for destruction,” he explained.

While restating the resolve of the JTF to take the fight against oil theft to criminals, Olabanji called on Nigerians to provide useful information to help in this regard.