Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja
On Monday 30 December 2024, the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources – Oil, Senator Hieneken Lokpobiri PhD, flagged off the Operation DELTA SANITY II at Nigerian Navy Ship PATHFINDER, in Port Harcourt Rivers State. Recall that Operation DELTA SANITY I was launched by the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla in January 2024, as a major anti-crude oil theft operation with the deployment of personnel, patrol boats, helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles on aggressive surveillance and interdiction operations across the Niger Delta area in line with the President and Commander-in-Chief’s directive to eradicate crude oil theft and ramp up Nigeria’s production for an improved economy. Since then, the operation has been a huge success. This was contained in a statement signed by Commodore A. Adams-Aliu, Director, Naval Information.
In 2024, a total of 215 suspects and 26 vessels were arrested, while 468 Illegal Refinery Sites were deactivated. Also, an estimated quantity of 6.5 million litres of stolen crude oil and 7 million litres of illegally refined Automated Gas Oil were seized and appropriately handled. Furthermore, 361 wooden boats, 1,107 dugout pits, and 279 storage tanks were deactivated. In his remarks, Senator Lokpobiri confirmed that these successes contributed significantly to increasing Nigeria’s crude oil production to about 1.8 million barrels per day. While commending the Nigerian Navy on this remarkable achievement, he expressed optimism that more could be done. 3. Similarly, the Chief of the Naval Staff stated that Operation DELTA SANITY II would build on the successes of Operation DELTA SANITY I but it would involve increased Aerial surveillance through improved deployment of Maritime Domain Awareness infrastructure, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Armed Attack Drones. He added that the operation will also incorporate non-kinetic measures, improved collaboration with sister services, security agencies and all relevant stakeholders to ensure continuous increase in Nigeria’s crude oil production to over 2 million barrels per day. Finally, the Chief of the Naval Staff charged all participating Commands, Units and Establishments to strive towards realising the desired operational objectives of Operation DELTA SANITY II while expressing his profound gratitude to the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic for his unwavering support to the Nigerian Navy.
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