The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has initiated investigations into the activities of eight suspected oil thieves in Rivers State. The suspects were handed over to the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the EFCC by the Nigerian Navy Forward Operating Base on Akiama Road, Bonny Island, Rivers State, on January 10, 2024.
The EFCC, in a statement on its website, disclosed that the suspects were apprehended with an undisclosed quantity of illegally acquired Automotive Gas Oil, commonly known as diesel, along the Bonny Channel. The arrest was made during an operation on November 8, 2023, involving the vessel MV Cabrini and its eight crew members, as stated by the Naval Hand-Over Officer, Lieutenant Commander G.Y. Gwaza.
Lieutenant Commander Gwaza explained that the suspects, suspected of oil theft, were handed over to the EFCC for further investigation and potential prosecution. Chief Superintendent of the EFCC, Itoro Levi, received the suspects on behalf of the commission, assuring that a thorough and professional investigation would be conducted.
Levi expressed gratitude to the Navy for its collaborative efforts with the anti-graft agency. This follows a previous incident on December 12, 2023, where the Navy handed over three suspects to the police for facilitating a fake oil approval for a Marine Vessel named Mother Gabrini in Rivers State. The vessel was intercepted on November 8, suspected of illegal bunkering during activities by the Forward Operating Base in the Bonny Council of the state.
