The Joint Task Force, codenamed Operation Delta Safe, has arrested two suspects involved in printing fake documents to facilitate the sale of stolen crude oil in the Niger Delta region.
The suspects, Magaji Musa and Umar Musa, were apprehended early on Tuesday during a raid on their residence in Port Harcourt.
JTF Commander John Okeke briefed journalists on Saturday at the command headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, about the arrest.
He said, “This syndicate specialized 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.”
Okeke explained that the fake documents allowed oil thieves to evade arrest, contributing significantly to illegal oil bunkering operations in the region. He stated, “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.”
During the raid, troops recovered documents with fake stamps from various associations, waybills, and forged identity cards from the suspects’ house. Okeke said, “The suspects had confessed to procuring fake waybills, illegal sales of crude, and diversion of stolen crude oil from pipelines.”
The suspects are currently in the custody of the JTF, South-South Operation Delta Safe, and will soon be paraded before the media and face prosecution. Okeke assured the public that the JTF is committed to eradicating criminal activities in the oil-producing region. “No stone will be left unturned until criminality is eradicated or reduced to the barest minimum in the oil-producing region,” he added.
Musa, identified as the ringleader, revealed to journalists that he has been involved in the stolen crude oil business since 2011.
