Nigeria: Navy Disrupts Three Illegal Refineries, Recovers 85,000 Litres in Rivers

What the report says

The Nigerian Navy says it has disrupted three illegal refining sites in Rivers State and recovered about 85,000 litres of suspected illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil. The operation was carried out by personnel from Nigerian Navy Ship Pathfinder in the Egbema axis of Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area, according to a statement from Navy Director of Information, Abiodun Folorunsho, as reported by Vanguard and distributed by AllAfrica.

The navy said the action followed intelligence about criminal activity in the area. Officials reported finding the sites with eight dugout pits, sacks and reservoirs containing the fuel product. The recovered material and the sites were handled under the service’s anti-crude oil theft procedures.

The latest raid came less than two weeks after the same naval unit disrupted two illegal refining sites in the same general area on Aug. 3, 2026. The navy said the repeated operations are meant to stop illicit operators from rebuilding infrastructure and to keep pressure on crude oil theft networks. It said the broader campaign, known as Operation Delta Sentinel, is intended to protect national assets, disrupt illegal petroleum supply chains and support Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. In context, illegal refining has been a long-running security and environmental problem in the Niger Delta, affecting oil production and local communities.