The Nigerian Navy has thwarted an attempt by suspected economic saboteurs to establish new illegal refining infrastructure in the Bonny area of Rivers State under the ongoing Operation DELTA SENTINEL.
According to a statement issued on Saturday by the Director of Naval Information, Abiodun Folorunsho, personnel of the Forward Operating Base (FOB) Bonny uncovered and dismantled two newly established illegal refining sites hidden within the Promise Land area of Bonny Local Government Area.
The Navy said the operation followed intelligence reports of suspicious activities around adjoining creeks and waterways in the area. In response, an Anti-Crude Oil Theft patrol team launched a coordinated reconnaissance mission to verify the threat.
The statement disclosed that aerial surveillance during the operation exposed concealed refining equipment buried beneath dense vegetation. A subsequent ground assessment confirmed the presence of two newly constructed refining camps strategically located near the river channel.
According to the Navy, the sites contained improvised cooking pots, interconnected pipe networks and other support infrastructure believed to have been prepared for the processing and transportation of illegally refined petroleum products through nearby waterways.
Further findings indicated that the operators were still in the early stages of setting up the camps, suggesting plans to create a new illegal refining cluster before full operations could begin.
The illegal refining sites were later dismantled in line with operational procedures, while security monitoring has been intensified around the location to prevent any renewed activities.
The Navy said the operation highlights its increasing focus on proactive disruption of illegal refining infrastructure before criminal networks fully establish operational capacity in the Niger Delta region.
It added that Operation DELTA SENTINEL remains focused on identifying emerging hotspots, curbing criminal expansion and limiting the ability of oil theft syndicates to regenerate across the region.
The statement reaffirmed the Nigerian Navy’s commitment to sustaining intelligence-driven operations aimed at protecting critical national assets and safeguarding the country’s maritime environment from economic sabotage.
