Air Component of Operation Delta Safe (OPDS) have vowed to make life difficult for oil thieves and their accomplices in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria as they would continue to strike at the heart of their activities.
As a result, a sting operation was carried out on Saturday, August 5, 2023, about 4 Nautical Miles South-East of Bille, a riverine area located West of Bonny Island and South of Port Harcourt, in Rivers State.
They struck three boats after they were sighted tapping crude oil from a pipeline; as they were engaged and destroyed them 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.
In a statement by the Director of Public Relations and Information (DOPRI), Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet on Monday said that the force would sustain air strikes against these economic saboteurs until they desist from their acts of thievery and economic sabotage.
“The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, has since directed all air component commanders nationwide to ensure they team up with other security agencies as they sustain air strikes on all criminal elements in the country.”
According to him, “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.”
