Nigerian Navy has said that the nation has lost over a whopping 277,040, barrels of crude oil from illegal oil bunkering activities in 2019.
Chief of Training and Operations (COPP), Rear Admiral Mackson Makonju Kadiri, disclosed this during the first quarter media briefing held at the naval headquarters in Abuja, adding that the Navy has carried out a number of operations to curb those activities.
He also noted that about 223.1million liters of Automated Gasoline Oil (AGO), and 1.2million liters of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), was lost at the same time.
Speaking on the Operation River green sweep, he noted that it was introduced as result of increased activities of illegal refiners, particularly in Delta and Rivers States.
He stressed that the operation is saddled with the responsibility of air surveillance, insertion of Special Forces by gunboats, pulling down of illegal refining sites with the use of swamp buggies as well as arrest/destruction of boats and badges found in such locations.
On its part, the Nigerian Navy has also embarked on round the clock surveillance of the waterways using the Regional and Maritime Awareness Capability (RMAC), and Falcon Eye to ensure safety of the nation’s waterways.
According to him, the Navy has a total of 24, Maritime Domain Awareness(MDA), centers strategically located across the Nigerian coastline which ensures the effective surveillance of all vessels in the territorial waters whether fitted with Automatic Identification System(AIS), or not
