The Nigerian Navy has restated its readiness to flush out oil thieves and secure the country’s oil installations.
Speaking at the launch of Operation Delta Sanity 11 on Monday, the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla said Operation Delta Sanity 11 would build on the successes of Operation DELTA SANITY I, but it would involve increased Aerial surveillance through improved deployment of Maritime Domain Awareness infrastructure, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Armed Attack Drones.
He added that the operation will also incorporate non-kinetic measures, improved collaboration with sister services, security agencies and all relevant stakeholders to ensure continuous increase in Nigeria’s crude oil production to over two million barrels per day.
He charged all participating commands, units and establishments to strive towards realising the desired operational objectives of Operation DELTA SANITY II while expressing his profound gratitude to the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his unwavering support to the Nigerian Navy.
The flag off of the Operation DELTA SANITY II was performed by Minister of State for Petroleum Resources – Oil, Senator Hieneken Lokpobiri at the Nigerian Navy Ship PATHFINDER, in Port Harcourt Rivers State.
A statement signed by the Director of Information, Nigerian Navy, Commodore A Adams-Aliu
recalled that Operation DELTA SANITY I was launched by the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla in January 2024, as a major anti-crude oil theft operation with the deployment of personnel, patrol boats, helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles on aggressive surveillance and interdiction operations across the Niger Delta area in line with the President’s directive to eradicate crude oil theft and ramp up Nigeria’s production for an improved economy.
Since then, the operation has been a huge success.
In 2024, a total of 215 suspects and 26 vessels were arrested while 468 illegal refinery sites were deactivated. Also, an estimated quantity of 6.5 million litres of stolen crude oil and seven million litres of illegally refined automated gas oil were seized and appropriately handled. Furthermore, 361 wooden boats, 1,107 dugout pits and 279 storage tanks were deactivated.
In his remarks, Senator Lokpobiri confirmed that these successes contributed significantly to increasing Nigeria’s crude oil production to about 1.8 million barrels per day.