Nigeria: Army intercepts vessel with stolen diesel in oil-rich delta

Nigeria’s military says it has seized a vessel carrying stolen diesel along a river that flows through the nation’s oil-rich southern delta.

Military spokesman Timothy Antigha said in a statement Monday that a task force deployed to protect Nigeria’s oil fields impounded the vessel Friday from River Akasa in Bayelsa state.

Antigha said two crew members were arrested aboard the vessel carrying 5,000 tons of illegally refined diesel.

He said the military arrested 46 suspects just over a week ago accused of trying to offload stolen oil products from 13 smaller boats into a vessel along River Akasa.

He said a “booming trade” of stolen oil products along another river has stymied oil production in the area.

Oil theft in the region runs into the hundred of thousands of barrels a day.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.