By Oyibo Salihu
Lokoja
A 40-metre length wooden boat carrying at least 65,000 liters of petroleum products suspected to be diesel or crude oil has been impounded by Nigerian Navy from bunkerers on the River Niger.
In a press conference yesterday in Lokoja, the Commander, Nigerian Navy Ship Lugard, Lokoja, Commodore, Shuwa Abdulrahim Muhammad, explained that the petroleum products were stored in nine tanks of 500 litres each.
He said the boat was discovered at a mash area on River Niger around Lokoja on October 13, by the command while on patrol from Baro Niger state to Lokoja and Idah in Kogi state.
Muhammed further said at the time of discovery, the boat was abandoned by bunkerers due to intensive patrol around the area by the Navy officers, saying that with the discovery, the menace of oil theft was restricted to the Niger Delta alone.
The Commander said the seized products would be handed over to the officials of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for test to determine the type of product and evacuation while the boat would be destroyed with all the equipment.
He added: “The federal government policy and directive from the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin, on zero tolerance on oil theft, illegal bunkering on our water would be enforced so as to eradicate the menace, which, he noted, had led to significant loss in revenue accruable to the federal government.
Items recovered from the wooden boat included about 65,000 litres of products suspected to crude, or diesel stored in nine Geepee tanks of 500 litres each, two pumping machines, three Yamaha boat engines, three hoses, 150 litres of PMS, a machete, plastic bucket, one bag containing machine tools and five empty 25 litres of jerry cans.
Also speaking, the representative of the NNPC, Joseph Idoko, said the product would undergo test before it could be determined whether or not it was diesel or crude.
