The military Joint Task Force, codenamed Operation Delta Safe, has uncovered over 50 illegal crude oil refining sites in the Biseni area of the Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
JTF Commander, John Okeke, who led the operation, said the illegal refining of stolen crude oil was taking place in each of the sites.
Okeke said the JTF also uncovered a large open pit that the oil thieves dug to accommodate over 10 trucks of Automotive Gas Oil, also known as diesel.
He said the task force will not relent in it's mandate to end the menace in Biseni in the Yenagoa LGA of Bayelsa.
The commander hinted that if not for the good-spirited individual who volunteered information, the force wouldn’t have known that a crime of such magnitude is going on in the area.
According to him, the thieves operating in the area connected a theft line made of a two-inch pipe, a galvanised pipe, directly to the supply oil line on the road, from a distance of about one kilometre.
Okeke said the military would not relent in the campaign against oil theft and economic sabotage, while advocating for more serious measures to address this challenge as the country is bleeding from these illicit oil activities.
The JTF commander urged public-spirited persons in the area to volunteer useful information that would help in stemming the tide of illegal businesses.