Nigerian troops operating in oil rich Niger Delta has impounded a vessel with 12 crew members along the Akassa Water Ways in Bayelsa.

Spokesperson for the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) Lt.-Col. Onyema Nwachukwu disclosed this in a statement reaching Xinhua on Sunday, saying the vessel was seized during its anti-oil theft and pipeline vandalism operations.

Nwachukwu said the vessel MV Buyus with fake clearance documents was secured at the Nigerian Navy Dock Yard in Brass Local Government of Bayelsa.

The suspects, according to the statement, have been handed over to the appropriate prosecuting agencies for further investigation and subsequent prosecution.

He said the land patrol squads of the JTF had also intercepted four tanker trucks conveying suspected stolen petroleum products along Enugu-Port Harcourt Express Road.

The drivers and tanker trucks were arrested when they failed to produce documents certifying them for lifting of the product.

The JTF, however, urged oil firms operating in the Niger Delta region to collaborate and evacuate the reservoirs used by the oil thieves to deter the oil thieves from returning to the illicit trade.

The Shell Petroleum Development Company had threatened to shut its Nembe Trunk line because of rising incidents of oil theft through its pipeline network in Bayelsa.

Mutiu Sumonu, the Managing Director of SPDC, on March 4, urged the JTF to step up its activities to reduce oil theft, currently standing at about 60,000 barrels daily. Endi

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