Nigerian Navy Averts Attacks On 3 Merchant Vessels

According to a statement by the Director of Naval Information, Commodore Christian Ezekobe, the Nigerian Navy  said they averted pirates attack on 3 merchant vessels, namely MV MOXON, MT AFRICAN BEAUTY and MT MADONA in the maritime environment of the Niger Delta.

“The vessels were attacked around Brass waterways in Bayelsa State on 3rd and 4th May 2016. The criminals made a spirited effort to seize the vessels, but the timely response of the Special Protective Team deployed by the Nigerian Navy successfully dislodged the pirates who fled to evade arrest,” the statement said.

In a related development, the Navy said, “a naval patrol team deployed by NNS PATHFINDER on 4th May 2016 discovered and destroyed 2 active illegal crude oil refineries located at NAFCON creek”.

“The refineries had 7 storage tanks containing about 10,000 litres of stolen crude oil and 20,000 litres of illegally refined AGO. This is even as the patrol team destroyed a warehouse used by the criminals to hide illegally refined products. The massive warehouse located in an Ikpokiri community in Rivers State had GP tanks containing suspected illegally refined AGO.

“Consequently, the new tactics of using warehouses by the crude oil thieves have been noted seriously. Therefore, the Nigerian Navy is warning owners of warehouses in the Niger Delta area to avoid the temptation of leasing out their properties to the criminals. The Service will not be held responsible for damages done to the properties in the course of the current clampdown on crude oil theft, vandalism and piracy in the area,” Ezekobe added.