The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) says it has seized 42 oil bunkering vessels and destroyed 10 illegal refineries in the country between July and September.
Alhaji Abdullahi Gana, Commandant General of the corps, made these assertions while speaking to journalists on Thursday in Minna, Niger state.
These vessels and refineries, he stated, were used in siphoning crude oil products to the black market.
“On Friday we destroyed three illegal refineries in Rivers state; within the week we destroyed five in Bayelsa and another two in Abia,” he declared.
He lamented the huge loss accruing to Nigeria as a result of the theft of the nation’s oil, the main stay of the country’s economy.
Furthermore, Gana told newsmen that the Corps deployed 40,000 of its personnel to strategic locations across the country to ensure a hitch-free Sallah celebration.
The Commandant General said that ensuring the security of the country was everybody’s business and should not be left to the government alone.