The Eastern Naval Command (ENC) of the Nigerian Navy has arrested an oil product tanker MT FILIA (IMO No. 8662684) with 650 metric tonnes of stolen crude oil valued at over N660 million.
The ENC Operations Officer, Abubakar Umar, a naval commodore, announced the arrest at a media briefing in Calabar on Tuesday, stating the feat was achieved based on credible intelligence.
Mr Umar said the vessel sailing under the flag of Sao Tomé and Principe with 12 crew members onboard, was arrested on 23 July within Nigerian waters.
He said preliminary investigations indicated that the tanker vessel loitered within the vicinity of the offshore oil terminals located at Akwa Ibom for over seven days, waiting for an opportunity to gain access to crude oil jackets.
According to him, the vessel subsequently proceeded to one of the oil jackets where it was engaged in the suspected illegal loading of crude oil.
