By Edoamaowo Udeme
The Nigerian Navy has foiled an attempted sabotage of an oil wellhead in Bonny, Rivers State, preventing what it described as a planned crude oil theft operation targeting critical oil infrastructure in the Niger Delta.
In a statement, the Director of Information, Nigerian Navy, Captain Abiodun Folorunsho, said the suspects abandoned their boat and fled on sighting a naval patrol team. He added that a search of the abandoned boat led to the recovery of equipment commonly used for wellhead tampering and pipeline vandalism.
The recovered items include a portable generator, a cutting and grinding machine, chisels, spanners, cutlasses and other accessories believed to have been assembled to compromise the wellhead and siphon crude oil.
Captain Folorunsho said the operation, conducted in collaboration with other security agencies, led to the arrest of one suspect linked to the attempted sabotage, while efforts are ongoing to apprehend other members of the criminal network. He added that the recovered fibre boat has been secured for further investigation.
According to him, the operation successfully prevented an attack on critical oil infrastructure, denying the suspects the opportunity to cause economic losses and environmental damage through acts of sabotage.
The naval spokesman reaffirmed the Nigerian Navy’s commitment to intelligence-driven operations under Operation Delta Sanity II, aimed at protecting critical national assets, combating crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, and denying economic saboteurs freedom of operation within Nigeria’s maritime domain.
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