Category Nigeria News

In a sustained crackdown against crude oil theft and related crimes in the Niger Delta region, troops from the 6th division of the Nigerian Army have detained 39 suspected oil thieves and destroyed 18 illegal refining facilities.

According to the Acting Deputy Director, 6 Division Army Public Relations, Lieutenant Colonel Danjuma Jonah Danjuma, the operation was carried out between March 24 and March 30, 2025, in collaboration with sister security organizations.

Danjuma claimed security forces also seize more than 60 000 litres of petroleum products that had been stolen and destroyed the illegal refining infrastructure.

He claimed that troops in Rivers State had intercepted a custom-built twin tank with 18, 000 litres of crude oil stolen along Ochokocho Road in the Etche Local Government Area. Additionally, a MAN Diesel container truck with the registration number LXA 44 XA was seized while attempting to smuggle petroleum-related items that were hidden in sawdust bags. When they saw security forces, the suspects left the car and fled.

Further anti-oil theft operations along the Imo River, in his opinion, resulted in the destruction of numerous illegal refining facilities, with over 15, 000 litres of stolen goods being recovered. 2,800 litres of stolen crude oil were taken from Rumuekpe Forest in Ahoada East LGA, where two refining sites were destroyed and two refining facilities were also damaged.

Similar operations were conducted in the Degema Local Government Area’s Ebocha, Omoku, and Jelikri Creek, where illegal refining facilities, drum ovens, hoses, and metal pipes were all found.

Additionally, the Army’s statement highlighted significant accomplishments in Bayelsa State, particularly in Yenagoa LGA, where two illegal refining facilities were demolished and reassembled with more than 8, 000 litres of stolen crude in drums and sacks.

Another illegal operation was discovered in the Southern Ijaw LGA, which involved the recovery of 1,500 liters of crude oil and 300 liters of automotive gas oil (AGO).

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In Delta State, troops continued to fight crude oil theft after seizing several jerricans filled with illegally refined AGO and destroying storage containers used in the illicit trade.

According to the statement in Akwa Ibom State, troops “dominated the operational landscape,” preventing criminals from operating freely.

Major General Emmanuel Emekah, the division’s General Officer Commanding (GOC) leader, reiterated the army’s commitment to halting crude oil theft during his remarks. Our troops will continue to protect Nigeria’s resources and deter oil thieves. He warned that anyone who engages in illegal refining must turn a new leaf or be prepared to face the full punishment of the law.

Major General Emekah, who affirmed the army’s position, was quoted further as saying, “We will not relent in our efforts to maintain a secure environment where legitimate exploration activities can thrive without criminal interference.”

Dele Momodu, a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), criticized President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, calling it “anti-democratic.”

In response to the oil-rich state’s political crisis, Tinubu suspended governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and the Rivers State House of Assembly for six months in addition to the state of emergency.

Momodu, who was featured as a guest on Channels Television’s “The Morning Brief” and “The President’s Choice,” joined a long list of other people who can’t fault the president’s choice.

“It’s unfortunate, I think. President Tinubu is a very, very, very well-known figure to me. We were in exile together, and despite the fact that I’ve not been in the same party, he gallantly fought for this democracy. He said on Monday that many of us, as co-comrades at the time, are actually very embarrassed that our government has a pro-democracy leader, despite what we are witnessing being worse than dictatorship.

Please don’t destroy democracy in Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu pleaded with him. This will be said by everyone who loves him. We love him for his contributions to the motivation in the back, which is what is draining, Momodu said, but I don’t, I haven’t asked him for anything or anything.

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The All-Party Party (APC) leader accused the opposition of intimidating him and urging him to “watch your back.”

On the show, he said, “I’m saying to millions of Nigerians that President Tinubu should not allow people to deceive you,” he said.

The Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s suspended governor, Edison Ehie, has refuted claims that he was a part of the burning of the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex on October 29, 2023.

George Nwaeke, former Rivers State Head of Service, claimed incontrovertibly that Fubara and Ehie were the ones who planned the Assembly Complex’s burning.

Ehie, however, claimed he had no influence over the 2023 arson attacks at the state assembly complex on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics program.

He added, “It is very important to clarify that I was not, I had no hand, and I did not participate in the Rivers State House of Assembly’s burning.”

I woke up in the early hours of October 30th, 2023, to learn that the Rivers State House of Assembly had been destroyed. ”

Related: Fubara Rejects Nwaeke’s Claims and Asks Nigerians to Disregard Them

Ehie claimed that he has given his lawyers instructions to file a criminal libel lawsuit against Nwaeke for his false allegations.

I have already instructed my lawyers to file an issue of criminal libel against George Nwaeke, and I hope he is well-prepared to back up his assertions and assertions, he said.

According to Ehie, Martins Amaewhule, the speaker’s representative from the state assembly complex, should be questioned about the fire that broke out in the state assembly complex in October 2023, alleging that the speaker’s convoy started it shortly after security guards had allowed the speaker’s convoy inside.

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Nwaeke has “contrayed his political enemies” to “satiate his hunger for emergency riches,” according to the associate of the governor who has been suspended.

Ehie claimed that the wife of Nwaeke’s wife’s outcry over the weekend’s sudden disappearance of her husband was a true story about a man who “betrayed his conscience” and his family “to own the world”.

Nwaeke, the company’s chief of staff, resigned last week and showed his WhatsApp messages, which he had been receiving financial assistance.

Ehie claimed that Nwaeke is not speaking from his right perspective, and that George is not content.

Nwaeke does not have any particular or significant influence over Rivers State’s governance, according to Ehie.

The Nwaeke-based chief of staff refuted claims that the former head of service had intimate conversations with the governor who had been suspended. Nwaeke was asked to specify the day and time of his unauthorised travel to Fubara.

According to Ehie, “George Nwaeke has never, ever, been included in the protocol list of those who can have uninterrupted access to the governor.”

The Government House has the records, he says. I oversee or supervise the DSS for the Government House’s security clearance.