A destroyed refinery By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited( NNPCL) says it has destroyed 134 illegal refineries in the last few weeks. Also, the company said 63 illegal pipeline connections were uncovered during the the weeks . The corporation, In a visual report, stated that at about 2 am on Sunday, a joint team of security agents discovered a large wooden boat illicitly loading stolen crude oil from Barge AGS01 within the OML 18 operating area, noted intelligence report a large wooden wooden boat was caught receiving crude oil from the barge. According to the state-owned oil firm, while the barge was towed away with a tugboat in custody, five speedboats used in towing the large wooden boat to the illegal loading site were also detained and the particulars of the tugboats and barge used for the operation were reportedly seized for further investigation. It further said that two large boats, which involve
By Akinola Ajibade
The Federal Government is not leaving any stone unturned in order to deal with operators of illegal refineries' in the country, as it launched a clampdown on them.
This happens, as President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday directed the nation’s armed forces, security and intelligence agencies to intensify the clampdown on illegal refineries in the country.
Reacting to the deaths of tens of people who died after an illegal refinery exploded on Friday night at Abaezi forest in the Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State, the President described the incident as painful, adding that it must be stopped once and for all.
Buhari in a statement by his media aide, Garba Shehu, said that the incident is a national disaster, stressing that security agencies should not fold their arms at this trying period in the country.
He maintained that the responsibility for the loss of lives and property must squarely lie with the sponsors of the illegal refinery, who must all be caught and made to face justice.
He urged community leaders, the police, and the secret service to never allow the occurrence of the heart-breaking incident in any part of the country again.
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