No fewer than 12,000 litres of Automated Gas Oil alongside the wooden boat and two suspects have been arrested by the Nigerian Navy at Okarki waterfront in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State.

According to the PUNCH, the Commander of Nigerian Navy Ship Soroh, Nanmar Lekan, disclosed this while parading the suspects at Okarki waterfront on Friday.

Lekan explained that the arrest and seizure of the boat are in line with the mandate of Operation Delta Sanity, which includes anti-crude oil theft, anti-pipeline vandalism, and anti-illegal refining sites, among others.

He said, “Still working with intelligence gathering from the good citizens of this country, we received credible information that some people want to move illegally refined AGO, popularly known as diesel from the Okarki River.

“We dispatched our men here and they made this arrest here with two suspects. The quantity here is estimated at 12,000 litres of illegally refined AGO.”

One of the suspects, Clement Fimeya, said that he was doing it to feed his four children due to lack of a job.

He pleaded for forgiveness and promised to never indulge in such illegality again if granted a pardon by the appropriate security agency.

Lekan said the suspects and the products would be handed over to the appropriate security agency in line with the standard procedure for handling such items.