By Reportcircle- Port Harcourt
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has unleashed sustained aerial firepower in the Niger Delta, crippling oil thieves, torching illegal refineries, and driving up Nigeria’s crude production in what officials describe as a decisive blow against economic sabotage.
The intensified operations, conducted by the Air Component of Operation DELTA SAFE (AC OPDS) at the 115 Special Operations Group, Port Harcourt, follow a direct order from Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Bala Abubakar, to ramp up operational tempo across all theatres.
Commander of AC OPDS, Group Captain Abdulafeez Opaleye, revealed that relentless daily sorties have disrupted pipeline vandals, illegal refiners, and their logistics networks, forcing saboteurs into retreat.
He stressed that air dominance over the mangrove swamps and riverine terrain has become “a critical shield for Nigeria’s economic lifeline.”
Between May and August 2025 alone, ISR and armed reconnaissance missions over Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River states destroyed dozens of illicit refining camps, reservoirs, and cooking tanks, while exposing oil theft syndicates that had bled the economy for years.
“These missions not only degraded criminal capacity but raised the risk for saboteurs, making oil theft less profitable and more dangerous,” Opaleye said.
The crackdown has coincided with a sharp rise in oil output.
In July 2025, Nigeria pumped an average of 1.71 million barrels per day (mbpd) including condensates, with crude oil alone standing at 1.51 mbpd, a steady climb attributed to enhanced security.
Chief of Training and Operations, Air Vice Marshal Francis Edosa, disclosed that between May and July the air component executed 117 missions, 189 sorties, and logged 192 flight hours, consuming over 60,000 litres of jet fuel while destroying 25 cooking tanks, 11 reservoirs, and 3 drums used for illegal refining.
“These results prove that precision air power, intelligence-driven and kinetic, delivers both security and economic dividends,” Edosa affirmed.
The NAF vowed to sustain the offensive until oil saboteurs are permanently neutralized, assuring Nigerians that the skies over the Niger Delta will remain hostile to criminals and safe for legitimate production.
