By Sumaila Ogbaje

Defence Headquarters says troops of Operation Delta Safe (OPDS) discovered and destroyed 107 illegal petroleum products refining sites in the Niger Delta in the last two weeks.

The Director, Defense Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Musa Danmadami, made the declaration at the bi-weekly news briefing on operations of the armed forces on Thursday in Abuja.

Danmadami said troops sustained the war against oil theft, illegal refining and other criminal activities in the Niger Delta through aggressive patrols, raids and clearance operations amongst other strategies.

He said the operations were conducted at the creeks, waterways, in the sea, towns and cities of Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers, Cross River and Akwa Ibom with significant results.

“Troops in the conduct of Operation Octopus Grip and Operation Dakatar Da Barawo discovered and destroyed 107 illegal refining sites, 140 storage tanks, 58 reservoirs, 151 ovens, 68 dugout pits and 22 boats.

“Troops recovered 561,200 litres of crude oil, 119,000 litres of diesel, one fibre boat, five pumping machines, two outboard engines, 10 giant plastic tanks, one tricycle and six vehicles while they arrested nine suspected criminals.

“All recovered items and apprehended suspects have been handed over to the appropriate authorities for further action,” he said.

Danmadami said troops responded to an election disruption report within Ogbakiri community in Emouha Local Government Area of Rivers on March 19 and arrested 12 armed thugs.

He said the response led to the recovery of four AK47 rifles, one FN rifle, four AK47 magazines, one pistol loaded with two rounds of 9mm ammunition, one pump action gun, four cartridges, 16 rounds of 7.62mm special and one Hilux vehicle.

Danmadami said in the Southeast geopolitical zone, troops of the Joint Task Force, “Operation Udo Ka’’, neutralised seven members of the Indigenous People of Biafra/Eastern Security Network (IPOB/ESN) criminals and arrested 32 persons.

He said troops also recovered five AK47 rifles, 29 pump action guns, three Dane guns, four locally-made pistols, one double-barrel gun, and two rounds of 9mm ammunition, 188 rounds of 7.62mm special and 46 empty cases of ammunition.

Also recovered were seven live cartridges, three magazines, four radios, 16 machetes, three knives, 14 motorcycles, one vehicle, five mobile phones and several pairs of uniforms and boots.

“All recovered items and apprehended suspects have been handed over to the appropriate authority for further action,’’ he said.

Danmadami said troops of Operation AWATSE continued to clamp down on criminal elements within the general area of operations in the Southwest.

He said the troops, in conjunction with operatives of the NDLEA raided Awoyaya and General Paints areas of Ajah in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State on March 10.

They arrested 14 suspects and recovered 5kg of Indian hemp, 7kg of other illicit drugs, seven bottles of codeine, 6gm of tramadol, 5gm of methamphetamine and N3,250 during the operation.

He said the troops also apprehended seven armed thugs attempting to disrupt the March 18 elections in the zone.

“Troops recovered four AK47 rifles, three Jack knives, one cartridge gun, three mobile phones, one cutlass and 350 sachets of Indian hemp from the thugs,’’ Danmadami told newsmen. (NAN)

The battle of wits between the Kogi State Government and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) entered a new phase on Wednesday following with Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos granting an interim forfeiture of 14 properties in Lagos, Abuja and the United Arab Emirates linked to the Kogi State Government.

The Judge also ordered the preservation of the sum of N400,000,000.00 (Four Hundred Million Naira) recovered from one Aminu Falala, which “is reasonably suspected to have been derived from unlawful activity and intended to be used for the acquisition of Plot No. 1224 Bishop Oluwole Street, Victoria Island Lagos.”

A statement by Wilson Uwujaren, the EFCC spokesman said Justice Oweibo granted the order, following an ex parte application filed by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

The application was supported by an affidavit deposed to by Adekunbi Mojibola, an investigating officer with the EFCC.

Moving the application today, counsel to the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, stated that the properties, including “Hotel Apartment Community, Burj Khalifa lying, being and situate at, Plot 160 Municipality NO 345-7562, Sky View Building No 1, Property No 401, Floor 4, Dubai U.A.E.”, were reasonably suspected to have been derived from unlawful activity.

In his ruling on the application, Justice Oweibo granted the application, as prayed and directed the Commission to publish the interim order within 14 days for any interested party to show cause why the forfeiture order should not be made in favour of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The case was adjourned till March 28, 2023.

The cat and mouse game between the Kogi government and the EFCC has been on for years, shortly after the commission said it discovered billions to the government in a bank account. The state government swiftly denied ownership.

The last Court brawl between the two is one involving the Governor’s nephew, Ali Bello; his wife, Rashida; and at least three others over a N3 billion found in an account.

By Dayo Johnson, Akure

” We have stolen 1,400 expensive telephones from important personalities in the seven states that we have successfully operated, and have made over N84 million from the stolen telephones.

” For a period of six months, we have robbed these people of their expensive telephone and made the said amount.

These were the confession of members of an inter-state robbery syndicate apprehended by the Ondo state security outfit codenamed Amotekun and paraded in Akure, the state capital.

The leader of the gang, Ali Muhammad, said in an interview, that they have succeeded in stealing 200 expensive phones from each of the seven states they’ve operated.

Also speaking, a 31 year old girlfriend of one of the three suspects, Victoria Iyagbe, narrated how they carried out some of their operations, especially at big shops where expensive phones were sold.

“Whenever we arrive at any of the big shops, we pretend like normal customers who want to buy phones with hooded faces and with our heads covered with jackets.

“While bargaining the prices, we would confuse the seller using some tricks and the moment we got the target, we remove the jackets and stylishly place it on top of the items and abscond with them

The state commander of Amotekun, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, while parading the suspects, said that they have stolen over 200 phones in each state they had operated.

“Ondo State is the seventh state and they have made over N84 million from the enterprise within six months.”

“The gang members lodged in a 5-star hotel in Akure, with one of their girlfriends and hired commercial motorcycle riders to take them round the metropolis for assessment.

“Having surveyed the town, the following day, they would hit the streets, stealing people’s expensive phones in cunning ways they had rehearsed. And they had applied such severally for successful operations.

“After the arrest of the syndicate, they took the Amotekun Corps operatives to the various locations where they had robbed their victims.”

Some of the victims, were at the Amotekun Corps headquarters in Akure to collect their handsets.
(Vanguard)