A jet from the Nigerian air force of Operation Delta Safe bombed three boats while allegedly stealing crude oil from a pipeline in Rivers State
On Saturday, the jet was conducting one of its operations near a riverine area between Bonny Island and South of Port Harcourt when it collided with the boat.
According to Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, the NAF’s Director of Public Relations and Information, the crew found and destroyed an active illegal refining site in the Rivers neighborhood of Idama that had tanks and reservoirs loaded with what they believed to be illegally refined products.
“These are not the best of times for oil thieves and their accomplices in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria as the Air Component of Operation Delta Safe continues to strike at the heart of their activities. One of such operation occurred on Saturday, August 5, 2023, at about 4 nautical miles South-East of Bille, a riverine area located west of Bonny Island and South of Port Harcourt, in Rivers State
“The air strikes became necessary after three boats were sighted tapping crude oil from a pipeline. Consequently, the boats were engaged and destroyed by the aircraft. Flying towards Port Harcourt, the crew also observed an active illegal refining site with tanks and reservoirs loaded with suspected illegal refined products, about four miles South-East of Idama in Rivers State. The site was subsequently attacked and destroyed,” Gabkwet said in a statement on Monday.
According to him, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, has directed all air component commanders in the country to team up with other security agencies as they sustain air strikes on all criminal elements in the country.
“The days of treating criminal elements in our country with kids’ gloves are over. We must continue on this trajectory until we bring all of them to their knees,” he said.
