Men and officers of the 4 Brigade, Benin, have destroyed 22 illegal refineries both in Edo and Delta communities used by vandals who engages in crude oil theft along the right of way of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) to perpetrate their illicit oil deal.
The discovery of the 22 illegal refineries located in Oben, Oriowon LGA of Edo state and Iroro-Jesse in Ethiope-West LGA of Delta state were made possible from the intelligence gathering efforts of the soldiers attached to Abudu pumping station in Edo state who had been keeping vigilance on the activities of the vandals in the area over a period of time.
Speaking with newsmen in one of the locations where the destruction was carried out, the Officer in Charge (OC) of the Abudu Pumping station, Army Captain Deinyefa Miebaike, explained that the breakthrough was made possible due to his friendly disposition and regular interactions with the indigenes of the affected communities who later see reason to divulge useful information on the activities of the vandals in these areas.
According to him, “my men and I made it mandatory to establish a cordial working relationship with the locals in our area of coverage and this was the result of what you are seeing today. Initially, it was not easy for us to win their confidence but with time and more devotion the people were able to trust us enough to divulge useful information that led to this exercise today and we are not relenting”.
Also commenting on the exercise, the Garrison Commander of 4 Brigade, Benin, Lt. Col. Abubakar Wase, noted that there was no going back on the on-going war against pipeline vandaliastion under the command, stressing three (3) states which comprises Edo, Delta and Ondo under the Brigade Headquarters have been kept on close surveillance inorder to ensure that the operations of these vandals are checked.
His words, “the Brigade Commander, Brigadier-General Pat Akem, is not taking the issue of pipeline vandalisation in the affected states under his headquarters lightly and there are plans to even extend patrol to the borders of these states as we have come to the realization that these pipeline vandals are spread across the remote parts of these communities”.
Lt. Col. Wase, disclosed that considering the seriousness attached to this exercise by the Brigade Headquarters more men have been redeployed to pipeline surveillance unit as a way of intensifying patrol to these remote settlements, adding that in days to come more discovery of these illegal refineries and hideouts of the vandals would be uncovered.
While stating that the Brigade Command was not unmindful of the threat posed to the lives of the local indigenes by these vandals in the affected communities, Lt. Col. Wase, urged the indigenes not to be discouraged in working with his men as they would ensure they keep whatever information made available classified.
Two of the illegal refineries were burnt at Oben in Oriowon LGA of EDO state while the remaining 20 refineries that were destroyed were located in Iroro-Jessse in Ethiope-West LGA of Delta state.
