27 May 2011
Uyo — The Navy in Akwa Ibom has said it is determined to fight against operators of illegal refineries in the state.
Commander of the new NNS Jubilee Naval base at Ikot Abasi, Commander Harry Ngonadi made this declaration in Uyo, the state capital, in a session with newsmen yesterday.
Ngonadi said that it had sustained the gains made by the recent discovery and destruction of illegal refineries in Edemeya by spreading its dragnet to other parts of the state.
The commander said that the proliferation of such activities in the area was due to the absence of a naval base in the vicinity, as the nearest one at Ibaka could not adequately cover the long coastline of the state.
"We are smoking them all out but the public seem not to be aware of what we are doing due to the distance between us and the press.
"But if you go to Edemeya, Ikot Abasi, Eastern Obollo and the surrounding areas where such were being operated, we have completely decapitated them and the ones remaining - because they are very many - will not be spared.
"Environmental degradation remained our greatest challenge here but, as military men, we are ever ready to confront the perpetrators of this," Ngonadi explained.
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