The Joint Military Task Force (JTF) has seized a vessel loaded with illegal crude along the River Nun in the high sea of Brass Local Government of Bayelsa State.
Twelve persons including a woman were arrested for their involvement in the illegal lifting of crude oil from vandalized oil pipelines along the waterways and creeks of the Niger Delta.
The seized vessel, known as MT Victor One, was conveying over 400 metric tonnes of substances suspected to be crude oil.
Spokesman of the JTF, Lt. Col. Timothy Atingha. who led reporters to Brass LGA in Bayelsa State to inspect the vessel said “another two batches of Cotonou boats containing a large quantity of illegally refined AGO popularly known as diesel was also arrested.”
Atinga said that the JTF was also working on ways to ensure that the sponsors of the illegal oil bunkering and refineries are arrested.
He said: “What we normally do is when we finish our preliminary investigation, we will hand them over with their exhibits to either the EFCC or the Police and we do hope that they would take it up from there because we do not have the powers to prosecute the suspects.”
On the recent critics clamoring for the withdrawal of JTF men from the Niger Delta, Lt. Col. Antigha stressed that “the mandate of the force exceeds act of militancy, which had been reduced to zero level in the region to include the effective security nation’s crude oil, pipelines and other critical installations.
“If there was effective policing of the Niger Delta region, being major revenue base of the nation’s economy, perhaps there would not have been acts of militancy. So, it shows lack of deep thinking for some people or any critic to say JTF should be withdrawn from the oil producing states,” the force spokesman stated.
Continuing, he contended that “if there should be a threat in Bonny or Brass, what do you think will be the reaction of the people. Now, JTF has not only restored security in the South-South, but also a sense of confidence in the inhabitants of the area. Before now, social functions in some of these oil communities could not even hold because of palpable fear of militant’s attacks and other criminal activities.”
Lt. Col. Antigha, who also recalled the July invasion of the an illegal oil refineries along Mbiama axis, a border area between Bayelsa and Delta state, insisted that circulation of adulterated kerosene, which had caused recent explosions, in some part of the country could be traced to that spot, adding that Four suspects arrested during JTF’s raid had provided useful information over the incident.
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