30 NEW ILLEGAL REFINERIES FOUND IN RIVERS STATE

An Illegal Oil Refinery destroyed by Men of the Nigerian Navy, Eastern Naval  Command in Bonny Onne waterways of Rivers. Photo: Lyold Desmond/ICE/NAN/file

The Nigerian Navy says it has discovered 30 new illegal refineries with combined capacity to produce about four million litres of petroleum products daily.

Capt. Victor Choji, the Executive Officer of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder, Port Harcourt, said this during the destruction of one of the illegal refineries on Thursday.

He said all the refineries were discovered in Asari Toru Local Government area of Rivers, with 40 huge metallic storage tanks .

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that some of the storage tanks were filled with petroleum products suspected to be diesel and crude oil.

Choji noted that the discovery was in continuation of the current mop-up of illegal refineries and illicit bunkering of petroleum products by crude oil thieves.

"The 30 refineries have capacity to refine between three to four million litres of diesel daily – which is quite massive," he said.

"The sizes of the illegal refineries show that the LGA is indeed the epicentre of illegal bunkering activities in the state."