The officers of the Nigerian Navy have arrested no fewer than 13 suspected crude oil thieves on board Motor Tanker (MT) Sweet Miri off the coast of Nigerian waters.

The Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Mohammed Hassan, disclosed on Saturday, March 2, 2024, that the motor tanker was ladened with about two million litres of products suspected to be crude oil and had no naval approval onboard.

Hassan, who is also the Commander of Joint Taskforce Operation Awase, South West, said thorough investigations to ensure that kingpins of crude oil theft were brought to book would be carried out.

He said the launch of Operation Delta Sanity by the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, had further spurred naval officers towards fighting crude oil theft with more vigour.

The FOC said: “On February 15, our radar detected a dark ship, meaning, she hid all forms of investigation as far as 174 Nautical Miles off the coast of Nigeria heading westward towards the Republic of Benin.

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“We dispatched Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Aba to go and investigate the contact. We subsequently followed the investigation by dispatching NNS Sokoto to double-up the search and interdiction.

“MT Sweet Miri is a vessel that has been on the watch list of the Nigerian Navy for some time and has been arrested for suspicion of crude oil theft.”

Hassan noted that the vessel was opened for other agencies to take samples and carry out their independent investigations to find out the culpability of the vessel of interest.

The naval officer added: “We are happy to contribute further in the fight against crude oil theft and we will continue to double-up on our efforts in this regard.

“We think that most of this theft is carried out from abandoned well heads at sea.

“There are so many spread out all over and there is a need to decommission these oil heads as they provide avenues for thieves to take advantage of.”

Hassan reiterated the commitment of the Nigerian Navy to clamp down on kingpins following the arrest of MT Vinnalaris 1 Lagos in December 2023 in Ondo State.

He said Ogalla had directed that all arrests must be properly investigated and justice served.

The Star