Checks indicated that the vessel was intercepted along the Akassa waterways in Brass local government area of the state.
Intelligence officers in the Central Naval Command, Yenagoa and the JTF had identified the waterways and creeks of Brass as a notorious place for illegal oil bunkering.
According to a reliable security source, after preliminary investigation by JTF officers who immediately impounded the vessel and arrested the crew members, the name of the traditional ruler featured as their main sponsor.
After due consultation with its headquarters, the traditional ruler was picked up and grilled by intelligence officers of the military outfit.
Investigations revealed that the JTF had been on the trail of the suspected vessel following information that she was involved in illegal oil bunkering.
“We discovered that the boys came under the cover of the night and siphoned crude oil from the oil pipelines along the Brass-Sagana River in Akassa area.
We have discovered that some of these traditional rulers and community heads provide cover and funding for the activities of these oil thieves in Bayelsa. We have started a series of collaboration with communities but we will not spare those directly involved in the illicit trade” the source said.
Meanwhile the Civil Liberty Organization and the Ijaw Peoples Development Initiatives (IPDI) have disagreed with Governor Henry Seriake Dickson over his position on the proliferation of arms in Bayelsa state and the Niger Delta region.
The Chairman of the CLO in the state, Chief Nengi James charged security agencies to pay close attention to top Nigerians that sponsor illegal oil bunkering.
Also, the coordinator of the IPDI, Austin Ozobo, said of local refinery operators should be given legal backing and encourage, to improve the qualities of their operation and provide thousands of job for jobless youths in the country.
Culled from Sun newspaper
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