By Clara Dabo
In a sweeping storm of precision and might, the Nigerian Army has once again proven that the days of oil thieves roaming freely in the creeks of the Niger Delta are numbered.
Between July 14 and 20, 2025, troops of the 6 Division, Nigerian Army, backed by allied security forces, launched a sustained offensive across the heart of the oil-rich Niger Delta.
In coordinated raids spanning Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, and Akwa Ibom States, 62 suspected oil looters were captured, 14 illegal refining sites were razed to the ground, and over 350,000 litres of stolen petroleum products were recovered.
A statement from the Acting Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 6 Division, Lieutenant Colonel Danjuma Jonah Danjuma, revealed that the crackdown was part of ongoing operations to cripple the web of economic saboteurs that have long plagued Nigeria’s oil sector.
According to him, in the dense, oil-soaked marshes of Joinkrama 4, Ahoada West, troops uncovered six massive illegal refining sites built around an abandoned wellhead a dark fortress of economic treachery.
The troops shut down facilities containing industrial-scale ovens, reservoirs, and storage units housing a staggering 300,000 litres of stolen crude and 21,000 litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO). Nearby in Obiafor, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, soldiers discovered dug-out pits filled with over 5,700 litres of stolen crude and an unquantified volume of AGO. A daring ambush at a riverside intercepted two boats loaded with ten sacks of condensates. In Elele, a Sienna vehicle carrying 32 sacks of AGO, totaling 1,920 litres, was halted in its tracks.
Elsewhere, an illegal connection point and a hidden pit holding 1,200 litres of condensates were uncovered, along with three 150-meter-long hoses, metal drums, and refining ovens.
In Bayelsa State, troops stormed four illegal refining sites in Biseni, Yenagoa, where they dismantled five industrial ovens, seized over 10,000 litres of stolen AGO, and destroyed four dug-out pits. Security forces remain on high alert in the surrounding creeks, hunting down any remnants of the network.
In Delta State, intelligence-led maneuvers led troops from Javel Sharp Sand Waterside to Gana Road in Sapele, where two suspects were arrested and boats carrying 30 cellophane bags with over 1,500 litres of illegally refined AGO were confiscated.In Akwa Ibom, military presence remained dominant, denying oil thieves the freedom to move or operate, and stamping out any attempt to sabotage the economy.
The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 6 Division, Major General Emmanuel Eric Emekah, praised the troops for their gallantry and professionalism, urging them to sustain the operational tempo and ensure total eradication of criminal elements from the region.
These operations, swift and unrelenting, underscore the Nigerian Army’s ironclad resolve to defend the nation’s wealth, disrupt illegal oil economies, and restore sanity to the creeks.
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