The Nigerian Navy says its Special Forces shut down over 70 illegal refinery sites and seized more than 400,000 litres of stolen crude oil across the Niger Delta in July 2025. In a monthly operational update, Director of Naval Information, Commodore Ayiwuyor Adams-Aliu, said the intensified crackdown under Operation Delta Sanity also uncovered 120 dugout pits, illegal storage facilities, and equipment used for crude oil theft and refining in Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, and Akwa Ibom States. The operations denied oil thieves access to over 411,000 litres of crude oil and large quantities of refined products, including Automotive Gas Oil, Dual Purpose Kerosene, and Premium Motor Spirit.
Adams-Aliu noted that the month’s raids included the July 4 discovery of refining sites in Rivers containing 66,000 litres of crude and 40,000 litres of AGO, as well as July 14 operations in Akwa Ibom and Delta that thwarted smuggling attempts to Cameroon. On July 22 and 23, two large-scale illegal sites in Bayelsa’s Biseni community were dismantled, yielding over 450,000 litres of crude oil. The Navy also intercepted smuggling boats and arrested six suspects. He reaffirmed the service’s commitment, under Chief of Naval Staff Vice Adm. Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, to eliminating oil theft and boosting national production, which has now surpassed 1.8 million barrels per day.
The crackdown aligns with wider efforts to curb losses in the oil sector. A recent NEITI report revealed that Nigeria lost 619.7 million barrels of oil worth N16.25 trillion to theft between 2009 and 2020, though losses dropped significantly from 36.69 million barrels in 2022 to 7.68 million in 2023 due to improved resource management and tighter security. The Navy maintains that it will continue to safeguard the nation’s maritime domain, disrupt illicit activities, and uphold national economic interests.
