Nigerian Navy and Army operatives disrupted illegal petroleum activities in Imo State over the weekend and arrested three suspects in a coordinated operation.
The Navy also destroyed an illegal refining site (IRS) worth millions of naira, which had been dismantled earlier.
These operational successes were detailed in statements released yesterday by the Director of Naval Information (DINFO), Captain Abiodun Folorunsho. 
In Imo, personnel from Naval Base Oguta and the Nigerian Army intercepted a tipper truck and a Toyota Hiace bus carrying about 8,500 litres of suspected illegally refined petroleum products along the Ejemekuru-Obudi-Agwa axis.
The Hiace bus was found with about 150 bags of the suspected products. Three suspects were arrested, while other occupants of the second vehicle fled, abandoning it, the Navy said.
The suspects, vehicles and recovered products have been taken into custody for further investigation, the service added.
In Rivers, operatives of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Soroh, acting on intelligence about the suspected reactivation of illegal refining activities, uncovered and disrupted three illegal refining sites in the Okolomade and Ogbogolo areas under Operation Delta Sentinel.
The sites yielded two cooking drums, two large ovens, 10 reservoirs, four storage facilities and two makeshift camps believed to have sheltered illegal refiners. Investigators also recovered about 91,000 litres of suspected stolen crude oil and roughly 70 litres of suspected illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO).
The Navy said the facilities and recovered items were handled in accordance with established procedures.
It said both operations reflected sustained inter-service cooperation and intelligence-led security efforts to disrupt the illegal movement of petroleum products and deny criminal elements access to established routes for economic crimes.
The Navy restated its commitment to deepening collaboration with the Army and other security agencies to combat crude oil theft, illegal refining and the illicit movement of petroleum products, while protecting the country’s critical economic interests.
It pledged that Operation Delta Sentinel would continue to degrade infrastructure supporting oil theft in previously affected areas.
