The Nigerian Navy has thwarted an attempt to revive an illegal refining operation in Rivers State, recovering about 350 litres of illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) in the Okolomade general area of Abua/Odual Local Government Area.
In a statement Director of Naval Information, Nigerian Navy, Navy Captain Abiodun Folorunsho. said the operation, conducted by the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) SOROH on September 6, 2026, followed credible intelligence indicating that suspected operators were attempting to reactivate an illegal refining site in the area.
The suspected operators reportedly fled after sighting the naval team, abandoning the illegally refined AGO and two wheelbarrows believed to have been used to transport the product.
In a related operation, the naval base revisited a previously dismantled illegal refining site in the Ogbogolo area, where personnel destroyed remaining metallic ovens, storage tanks and other associated infrastructure.
The action was aimed at preventing criminal operators from restoring the site and resuming illicit refining activities.
The Navy said the operations reflected a shift from simply disrupting illegal refining activities to systematically destroying the infrastructure that enables operators to repeatedly revive their networks.
According to the Navy, denying illegal refiners access to their operational infrastructure would help reduce the resilience of illicit petroleum networks and constrain their ability to re-establish operations in the affected areas.
The Navy reiterated its commitment to sustaining operations against illegal refining, crude oil theft and other forms of maritime and petroleum-related criminality in the Niger Delta.
