Uche Cecil Izuora
The Nigerian Navy has dismantled an attempt to reactivate an illegal refining site in
Rivers State, while recovering approximately 350 litres of illegally refined
Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) during an operation in the Okolomade general area
of Abua/Odual Local Government Area.
The operation by NNS SOROH on 6 September 2026 followed credible
intelligence on the reactivation of illegal refining activities in the area. Suspected
operators fled on sighting the naval team, leaving behind the illegally refined
product and two wheelbarrows believed to have been used in its movement.
In a related operation, the Base revisited a previously disrupted illegal refining
site in the Ogbogolo area and rendered remaining metallic ovens, storage tanks
and associated infrastructure unusable, effectively closing avenues for their
further exploitation by criminal operators.
The interventions demonstrate a shift from merely disrupting illegal refining
activities to denying operators the infrastructure required to repeatedly revive
their operations, thereby constraining the resilience of illicit petroleum networks
in the area.