Troops of the Nigerian Army have arrested 15 suspected oil thieves for attempting to siphon crude oil from a vessel supplying the Dangote Refinery in Lagos.
The arrest was disclosed in an operational report made available on Friday in Abuja, with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reporting that the suspects were apprehended in the early hours of the same day.
The report stated that the operation was carried out by troops of Headquarters 9 Brigade in conjunction with 65 Battalion, following credible intelligence, leading to the interception of the suspects at the Ibeju-Lekki axis.
The report explained that the suspects were caught while trying to illegally tap into the crude discharge point of a vessel supplying the refinery.
It added that the operation resulted in the arrest of 15 suspects and the recovery of several items used in carrying out the illegal activity.
According to the report, items recovered from the suspects include a Mack tanker truck, a Lexus RX 350 sport utility vehicle, and a Ford Ranger pick-up truck, alongside a pumping machine, a 40HP Yamaha speedboat engine, and multiple hose pipes.
The report further noted that the successful operation highlights the Nigerian Army’s sustained efforts to safeguard critical national infrastructure and combat crude oil theft across the country.
The Dangote Refinery, located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos, is Africa’s largest refinery with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
The refinery is expected to scale to 1.4 million barrels per day, a move that could make it the largest refinery globally upon completion.
In a related event, Aliko Dangote is planning to list shares of his $20 billion oil refinery on multiple African stock exchanges, in what could become a landmark cross-border public offering on the continent.
