An illegal oil refinery

By Adibe Emenyonu

The Joint Task Force (JTF) otherwise known as “Operation Thunderstorm” Tuesday swooped on operators of illegal oil refinery in Igbelebu, a village between the boundaries of Edo and Ondo States in Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo State

The illegal refinery, which was discovered inside one of the creeks called Zion had several gallons of diesel, machines, tools and drums with refined diesel stored in them.

It was gathered that when operators of the illegal refinery heard the footsteps of the JTF officials, they took to their heels leaving the community deserted.

Speaking on the operations, the commander of the squad, Lt.-Col. Moruf Adewale Adegbenru, said the operation became necessary in order to rid the society of oil thieves.

According to him, “The essence of the operation was to rid the society of oil thieves in line with the Federal Government effort of ensuring that the Niger-Delta region is free of oil thieves thereby promoting the economy of the nation.”

He warned that the exercise will not stop and that if any information is received based on the illegal activities, they will act and make sure that the place is brought down.

“It is an ongoing exercise, we act based on the information that we receive and to forestall such occurrences we go there and destroy as much as possible the equipments that they use in the illegal refining and the products that were refined,” he stressed.