Navy finds 132,000 litres of suspected stolen crude in Bonny dugout pits
- The Navy says it found about 132,000 litres of suspected stolen crude in 10 dugout pits in Allison, Bonny, Rivers State.
- Forward Operating Base Bonny made the discovery on Thursday, October 22, under Operation Delta Sentinel.
- It is the second such find in the same community after 85,000 litres were uncovered in September.
The Nigerian Navy says it has uncovered about 132,000 litres of suspected stolen crude oil in 10 dugout pits in Allison community, Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The Director of Naval Information, Navy Captain Abiodun Folorunsho, announced the find in a statement. He said personnel of Forward Operating Base Bonny made the discovery on Thursday, October 22, 2026, under Operation Delta Sentinel, acting on intelligence about illegal petroleum activity in the area.
The Navy described the site as a likely storage point in the illegal petroleum supply chain, where stolen crude could be hidden before being moved for unauthorised processing or sale.
Same community, second find in weeks
Allison community has now been linked to two major recoveries in a matter of weeks. In September, naval personnel reported finding about 85,000 litres of suspected stolen crude in 16 concealed dugout pits in the same community.
That operation, on September 29, followed the dismantling of an illegal refining camp in the area on September 22. The Navy's statement suggests the same location keeps being used for suspected illegal petroleum activity.
Earlier in October, the Navy reported another suspected illegal refining site in Orashi Forest, Ogbogolo community, Ahoada West Local Government Area, also in Rivers State. That operation on October 15 uncovered 23 dugout pits holding about 114,500 litres of suspected stolen crude and illegally refined products. About 105,000 litres of that was suspected illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), commonly called diesel, while 9,500 litres was suspected stolen crude.
Why it matters
Crude oil theft and illegal refining eat into Nigeria's oil earnings, and that affects money available for public services. The trade also damages pipelines and farmland, and it fuels a dangerous black market in petroleum products.
The Federal Government has been trying to tighten coordination. On October 12, 2026, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, unveiled a new framework, the Standard Operating Procedure for the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry-Wide Security Architecture, to harmonise security operations across agencies, private surveillance contractors and oil operators.
At that event, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) said coordinated operations had shut down more than 10,000 illegal refineries and refining sites, removed nearly 7,000 illegal pipeline connections and led to the arrest of over 3,700 suspects.
The Navy asked community leaders, residents, traditional institutions and other stakeholders to report suspicious petroleum storage, illegal refining and unauthorised movement of petroleum products to the nearest security agency. It said timely, credible information could help stop such activities from spreading.
What happens next: The Navy says it will keep searching for and dismantling illegal refining sites across the Niger Delta. It has not said whether anyone has been arrested over the Bonny discovery.
