Nigerian authorities have shut down two illegal oil refining operations in Rivers State that were operating under the guise of legitimate businesses; a logistics company and a large-scale piggery, officials said Tuesday.
The joint operation, led by the Special Prosecution Task Force (SPT) of the Federal Government and Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL), uncovered what investigators described as “massive” illicit refining facilities in Oyigbo Local Government Area.
One site, Emekus Nigeria Limited, was presented as a logistics base but was found to house bags of stolen crude oil awaiting processing, three large storage tanks, and a 33,000-liter truck, according to officials. The second site, a remote piggery east of the Imo River doubled as a crude oil “cooking” location, hidden behind pens of pigs and fish ponds.
Authorities said operators abandoned the animals, leaving them without food, after learning of the task force’s presence. A man believed to be the farm manager fled the scene when officers arrived.
Andrew Ebikeme of PINL explained how the discovery was made;
“This is an illegal refining site with products from stolen crude. The area was discovered using intelligence information provided by PINL community based surveillance guards. We came here and what we saw was mind blowing. As you can see, this is supposed to be a logistics base but behind we have this illegal activity going on. Right now this has been confiscated by the special prosecution team”.
CSP Omar Sini, Head of Investigation at the SPT, confirmed that three suspects, including a woman, were arrested. He said 60,000 liters of stolen petroleum products were recovered from the Emekus Nigeria Limited site, and that locating the piggery required drone surveillance due to its remote location.
The SPT, which coordinates inter-agency efforts against illicit activities in Nigeria’s hydrocarbon sector, has arrested 108 suspects to date, secured two convictions, and is pursuing 38 active cases.
Oil theft and illegal refining are persistent problems in the Niger Delta, costing Nigeria billions in lost revenue annually and causing widespread environmental damage. Authorities say they will continue to target operations concealed behind legitimate businesses.
