The Joint Task Force, dubbed Operation Delta Safe, has paraded two individuals who are specialised in the production of fake documents to allow the selling of stolen crude oil in the Niger Delta region.
At the command headquarters in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State, on Saturday, Commander John Okeke reported to the media that Magaji Musa and Umar Musa had been apprehended after soldiers broke into their Port Harcourt home in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday.
Okeke said, “This syndicate specialised in printing fake documents for stolen crude oil in the Operation Delta Safe Joint Operation Area. This syndicate is responsible for procuring fake documents to provide free passage for oil thieves’ activities in the Joint Operation Area.
“Such act has made it possible for oil thieves to evade arrest, which has indeed contributed largely to the reported illegal oil bunkering operations in the oil-producing region.
“However, acting on intelligence on the activities of the syndicate, troops of Operation Delta Safe stormed the Port Harcourt residence of the ring leader, one Mr Magaji Musa and Umar Musa, in the early hours of Tuesday, August 20, 2024, and apprehended him.
“Subsequently, documents were recovered from his house bearing fake stamps of some associations and waybills and forged identity cards were recovered from his house.
“The suspects had confessed to procuring fake waybills, illegal sales of crude and diversion of stolen crude oil from pipelines.
“Presently, the culprits are in the custody of the Joint Task Force, South-South Operation Delta Safe, and they will be paraded before the media and subsequently face prosecution in due course.”
Okeke gave everyone the assurance that nothing would be left undone until crime in the oil production environment was completely eliminated or drastically reduced.
He also made emphasis on the Joint Task Force’s commitment towards rooting out all illegal oil refining and oil plant theft in the region.
