Navy intercepts Benin Republic-bound vessel, arrests 13 for ‘crude oil theft’

Mohammed Hassan, flag officer commanding (FOC) western naval command, says the Nigerian Navy arrested 13 suspected crude oil thieves onboard Motor Tanker (MT) Sweet Miri, a vessel bound for Benin Republic. 

Hassan said the motor tanker was laden with almost two million litres of products suspected to be crude oil, and had no naval approval.

The FOC, who is also the commander, joint task force of Operation Awase in the south-west, said investigations to ensure that kingpins of crude oil theft are brought to book, would be sustained.

He said the launch of Operation Delta Sanity by Emmanuel Ogalla, chief of naval staff, has reinvigorated the navy’s fight against crude oil theft.

“On February 15, our radar detected a dark ship, as far as 174 nautical miles off the coast of Nigeria, heading westward towards Republic of Benin,” Hassan said.

“We dispatched Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Aba to go and investigate the contact. We subsequently followed the investigation by dispatching NNS Sokoto to double-up the search and interdiction.

“MT Sweet Miri is a vessel that has been on the watch list of the Nigerian Navy for some time and has been arrested for suspicion of crude oil theft.”

He added that other security agencies were allowed access to the vessel in order to take samples for their respective investigations.

“We are happy to contribute further in the fight against crude oil theft and we will continue to double-up on our efforts in this regard,” he said.

“We think that most of this theft is carried out from abandoned well heads at sea.

“There are so many spread out all over and there is a need to decommission these oil heads as they provide avenues for thieves to take advantage.”

Hassan said the navy has shown its commitment to the task with the arrest of MT Vinnalaris 1 Lagos, in December 2023, in Ondo state.

He said Ogalla has directed that all arrests must be properly investigated and justice served.

“So, we are not just to stop at the level of crew arrest but to also go after kingpins and with the case of MT Vinnalaris, we have done a good job,” he added.

“We have gotten the people involved in the theft and that includes the managerial level of the company that owns the ship.

“We just have one more person to pick up who has absconded outside Nigeria but we are waiting for him.”