The discovery was made following an intelligence-led operation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which subsequently invited officials of the NMDPRA for a joint inspection of the facility on Wednesday.
Speaking during the inspection, the NMDPRA State Coordinator, Dr Atilola Akinyemi, described the facility as crude and completely illegal, stressing that it had no operating permit from any regulatory authority.
Akinyemi said the discovery followed intelligence gathering and surveillance, noting that conventional monitoring alone might not have been sufficient to uncover an operation of such magnitude.
“We received information about this operation, and we realised that it was important for us to be here personally. This kind of discovery cannot be made through ordinary monitoring alone; it requires intelligence gathering,” he said.
He explained that the facility contained underground storage tanks with an estimated capacity exceeding 90,000 litres, locally fabricated storage tanks, separation silos, underground heating systems and hydrants installed for cooling during processing.
According to him, the operators appeared to possess considerable technical knowledge and had deliberately designed the facility to imitate the operations of a standard refinery while bypassing established government regulations.
“It is clear that the people behind this operation are not ordinary individuals. They appear to be technically skilled people who have deliberately designed this facility to circumvent government regulations and operate outside the established regulatory framework,” Akinyemi said.
He likened the operation to the illegal refining activities that were prevalent in the Niger Delta during the 1990s and early 2000s, questioning the source of the facility’s petroleum feedstock.
The NMDPRA coordinator, however, cautioned against identifying the recovered petroleum products as diesel, also known as Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), until laboratory tests had established their actual composition.
He warned that releasing the products into the market without proper verification could pose serious risks to vehicles and automobile engines.
Akinyemi added that the recovered products and materials had been confiscated and placed under the custody of the Federal Government pending laboratory analysis and further verification.
He also warned that the authority would not tolerate illegal refining activities in Ogun State, assuring that it would strengthen collaboration with law enforcement agencies to identify and dismantle similar operations.
Meanwhile, the EFCC Zonal Director, Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, Bawa Usman Kaltungo, disclosed that the operation was initiated following information provided by a Nigerian whistleblower in response to an appeal by the commission’s Executive Chairman for citizens to report suspicious activities.
Kaltungo said the commission first conducted surveillance to verify the intelligence before launching a sting operation that led to the discovery of the facility.
“Following that, the Chairman directed us to conduct a sting operation, which we successfully carried out. It was during that operation that we discovered this facility. We are also on the verge of discovering another location,” he said.
The EFCC official also raised concerns about the immigration status of some foreign nationals arrested in connection with the operation.
He disclosed that some of the individuals could not produce their passports, while others were reportedly found with visas that had expired about three months earlier.
Kaltungo added that investigations were ongoing into the ownership structure of companies allegedly linked to the operation, noting that some of the ultimate beneficial owners were reportedly based in China.
Also speaking, the Director of the EFCC Department of Proceeds of Crime Management, Mr Gbolahan Latona, warned that illegal petroleum operations could undermine legitimate investments in Nigeria’s refining industry and deprive the country of government revenue.
He said the commission would pursue the recovery of assets established to be proceeds of crime and ensure their productive use in accordance with the law.
Latona cited the conversion of Nok University, following its forfeiture to the Federal Government, into the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, as an example of the commission’s asset recovery and social reuse initiative.
He said the newly discovered facility could also be considered for appropriate recovery and reuse, subject to the outcome of investigations and the necessary legal processes.
The EFCC director further warned that illegal operators must not be allowed to undermine investments by legitimate players in the petroleum sector, particularly major domestic refining projects.
He assured that the suspects would be prosecuted if sufficient evidence was established against them, adding that the commission would extend its investigations to individuals and interests allegedly financing the operation from outside Nigeria.
