The Nigerian Navy has uncovered 15 large-scale illegal refining sites in Rivers State, capable of processing 2.7 million litres of crude oil per day.

The Commander, Nigeria Navy Ship Pathfinder, Port Harcourt, Commodore Desmond Igbo, made the revelation on Friday when he led journalists to the illicit refining sites at the community in Degema.

According to him, the troops made the discovery as part of the ongoing Operation Delta Sanity, recently launched by the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Emmanuel Ogala, to combat oil theft.

“The uncovering of the illegal refining camps was made in line with the renewed mandate to combat and eliminate crude oil theft from the country.

“Upon receiving the CNS mandate, troops were deployed, and they uncovered 15 illegal refining camps, each equipped with six cooking pots and metal storage tanks,” he said.

Igbo further stated that the discovery of the illegal bunkering sites was a significant breakthrough in the Federal Government’s efforts to rid the country of oil thieves and economic saboteurs.

He said that Ogalla had given naval troops the marching order to end attacks on the nation’s oil and gas facilities and safeguard the maritime environment.

He expressed concerns that frequent vandalism of pipelines and wellheads had further polluted and damaged the environment.

Igbo said, however, that no arrests were made during the raid as the labourers in the illegal refineries fled the area on sighting the advancement of naval troops on several gunboats.