The Joint Military Task Force (JTF), says it has arrested 20
Ghanaians and six Nigerians and destroyed seven barges with tug boats carrying
stolen petroleum products in Abonnema, Akuku Toru Local Government Area of
Rivers State.

JTF Commander, Brigadier-General Tuku Brutai said the 26
suspects were arrested during operations by his men.

The 2 Brigade, Nigerian Army spokesman disclosed that the
seven barges loaded with crude oil with the 20 Ghanaians and six Nigerians
arrested were on board were impounded last month.

He added that the arrested persons had been handed over to
the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps for prosecution, saying that,
“there were some arrests and they have all been handed over to the civil
defence corps for prosecution, and as you are aware, these barges are based in
this area.”

“They take advantage of these creeks, the difficult terrain
to sneak into the area and steal the crude oil but luck ran out of them and we
were able to intercept them.”

The 2 Brigade commanding officer also said that sea piracy
has continued in the creeks of the Niger Delta despite the efforts of the JTF
to stop the menace.

“We also have the challenge of difficult terrain where some
of our gun boats can not have access to the creeks because of the shallow
nature of the waters there but by and large, we have taken full control of the
situation in the riverine areas,” he said.

The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC)
has said that the shut in of 150,000 barrels of oil per day may adversely
affect the Federal Government’s revenue targets and fiscal allocations for
projects and programmes in the 2012 budget, saying the Federal Government has
lost 1.2million barrels of projected crude oil sales in just eight days from
Shell alone.

The company has therefore, warned of grave consequences, if
government agencies charged with the responsibility of managing the nation’s
marine systems and territorial waters fail to remove the illegal crude oil
vessel which caught fire eight days ago, atop its 28-inch high pressure Trans
Niger Pipeline (TNP).

Shell has threatened to shut down the 240million cubic feet
per day Okoloma Gas Plant, which supplies feedstock to the Nigeria Liquefied
Natural Gas (NLNG) facility in Bonny Island and at Okololunch new Bonny the
gas-powered Afam VI Power Station, lying adjacent to the gas plant, in Oyigbo
Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Afam VI supplies 650megawatts to the national grid, managed
by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), thus, contributing
significantly to the government’s desire to achieve uninterrupted power supply
as part of its Transformation Agenda.

The Tide gathered that shut down of Afam VI Power Station
would cut off 650MW from the overall national power supply equation, which
stands at between 4,200MW and 4,500MW, thereby worsening the nation’s power
supply challenge.

The Bomu-Bonny 28-inch TNP and 26-inch high pressure gas
pipeline run in parallel, and pump crude oil and gas from the entire Land East
production infrastructure, particularly the Okoloma Gas Plant to facilities at
Bonny Island..

The Tide gathered that Shell’s concerns revolve around the
fact that the vessel now in flames seats atop both high pressure pipelines, and
therefore, exposes the billion-dollar facilities to serious threat.

The Land East operations cover all Shell production
facilities in Rivers, Imo, Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

Shell’s Vice President, Health, Safety and Environment
(HSE), Communications and Corporate Affairs, Tony Attah, who gave the warning
last Friday, said the shut in of 150,000bpd production, and shut down of both
Okoloma Gas Plant and Afam VI Power Station, though regrettable, were a
compelling last resort.

He stated that as soon as the incident was reported Sunday,
the Emergency Response Team (ERT) was mobilised and dispatched on overfly of
the area to ascertain the veracity of the fire, adding that three six-inch
crude theft point fittings have so far been identified on the TNP.

He urged the Federal Government to address the crude theft
problem swiftly by tightening security on the nation’s waterways while
arresting and prosecuting criminals involved in the illegal business to save
the region and the nation’s economy.

The Tide had exclusively reported last Monday that the
explosion and fire which gutted the vessel had claimed the lives of four
expatriates and 18 others while another 21 persons around the crude oil theft
circumference sustained serious injuries, including first degree burns.