Friday, 24 May 2013
JTF Impounds Vessel Carrying 1,000 Tonnes of Crude Oil in Rivers
By SaharaReporters, New York
The Joint Task Force (JTF) operating in the Niger Delta said on Tuesday that it arrested a vessel laden with 1,000 tonnes of crude oil off the coast of Bonny Island in Rivers State.
It paraded nine suspected crew members, all of them Nigerians, before newsmen in Bonny.
Maj. Michael Etete, the Two-Brigade Army spokesman, said the Nigeria-registered vessel, MT Atlantic Star, was arrested while illegally tapping crude oil from a pipeline.
He said the arrests, by troops of Sector two in Bonny, followed a military intelligence report on December 29, 2012.
“Further investigation is on-going and the suspects will be handed over to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps for prosecution,” he said.
He restated JTF’s commitment towards stamping out oil theft, oil bunkering and other criminal activities within its area of responsibility in-line with its mandate.
Mr Rauf Rasak, the captain of the vessel, told reporters that the vessel was hijacked by six unknown gunmen who threatened to kill the crew members if he refused to cooperate with their illicit directives.
Rasak further claimed that the gunmen immediately took over navigation of the vessel, anchored it in Bonny and thereafter loaded the vessel with the illegal crude oil.
“While [they were] loading the vessel with the crude oil, men of the JTF approached us and the gunmen fled the scene,” he said.
The captain said that the crew members were innocent of the charges being brought against them by the JTF.
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I remember when IBB legalised..........
Submitted by umu oke (not verified) on January 3, 2013 - 19:37.
I remember when IBB legalised oil-bunkering secretly in 1980s. To calm his effevascent Northern officers who were boiling with rage, asking for rewards for keeping Nigeria one. IBB ordered them to travel abroad,get empty vesssels to Niger Delta,fill them with crudoil,sell and return just 50% sales to the government.Illicit bunkering was thus legalised. There was a rush for it,mainly,by northern officers, to become dollar millionairs, later billionairs in less than four bunkering trips, no capital risk was involved and their European/ Russian / Arab partners made gains in billion US dollars. Okar group of officers, who bore most of the jungle war sufferings and who ought to be favoured and rewarded more than the selected few, became indignant, restless and, as you know, eventually,attempted to stop IBB,but couldn`t.So bunkering continued from -Abacha-Abubakar-PDP groups in a larger scale. Umuoke-Lyton/UK
JTF don Kill Me Oooooooooo!
Submitted by Tony h (not verified) on January 2, 2013 - 21:01.
Dear Funkie Baby: Please return the Jeep back to car dealer.
Dear Alpolonia: Forget about moving into that house in VGC garden.
Dear Charity: My sweet darling, forget the shopping trip to Dubai.
Dear Mama: I will not able for a VERY LONG time. Please don't look for me.
Kudos to JTF
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 2, 2013 - 08:51.
Kudos to JTF.
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division
Submitted by sultanofsokoto (not verified) on January 2, 2013 - 07:59.
These mallams again! Why do you terrorists love and cherish oil this much but you want the pple on whose soil and waters it is found to perish! Allah see what your religion has made humans turn to...Animals. Now they wil start killing b/c of Mohammed cartoon to be published today in a faraway country ( France)
Otile the Ewu of the century
Submitted by One Voice (not verified) on January 2, 2013 - 06:53.
Ebele pays abt 1.6 billion Naira monthly to the murderous cannibalistiic Godless militants to proctect or milk the pipelines but still 1000tonnes of crude is stolen by the same group with the help of NNPC lead by Dame Deiziani Jona. Ur enviroment is being destroyed by the very heroes that are paying u to be a nusance on this forum, u are pathetic
NA TODAY?
Submitted by Fasua (not verified) on January 2, 2013 - 06:37.
This is not news. It has been going on for years maybe this people no gree settle. Why did they allow the gunmen to flee? All these deceptions should end. Or do they want to show President Jonathan that they are on his side by disturbing Asari boys? This business is not for small boys, the day they start taking the BIG BOYS to court and jail then we'll start taking them serious. Bunkering is a mega-dollar main business in the Niger Delta, kidnapping is now done by small boys.
Meeen these guys are drying up this country and they are living large!Jonathan cannot disturb them because they are his kinsmen. Maybe 2015 or direct military confrontation will stop them.
Criminals
Submitted by Meeche (not verified) on January 2, 2013 - 03:40.
JESUS!!! This people are real crooks. Imagine the defence that they have pre-arranged in case luck runs out of them like in this case!! They will hire the best lawyers since they have the fincial muscles and we continue to get trapped in this vicious circle. I weep for this country. Poverty continues to ravage average Nigerians while this criminals and corrupt politicians keep robbing the country of its treasury.
Does this mean that the
Submitted by Otile (not verified) on January 2, 2013 - 02:57.
Does this mean that the Northerners are not getting enough oil from the pipeline dug from Pitakwa to Kaduna(Sudaniyya)? Why is the Boko Haram hijacking vessels to steal oil to the North? If those oil thieves were natives JTF would have arrested them all.
See, now Alhaji Rauf Rasak is calling them unknown gunmen sating that they fled the scene when JTF was approaching. The only unknown gunmen we got in 9ja are Boko Haram Islamic terrorists, and everybody knows that.
