EIGHT suspected oil bunkerers in Cross River State were Thursday handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for prosecution.

The Nigerian Navy had on December 21, 2012, paraded eight suspected oil bunkerers and impounded items that included 220 drums of diesel, wooden boat and two pumping machines between Igbani station and Parrot Island, as the products were to be sold in Calabar.

The Commanding Officer, NNS Victory, Commodore Kingdom Itoko, who handed over the bunkerers to EFCC, said the Nigerian Navy would fight bunkering activities to a standstill. He said the navy would not relent in its efforts at ridding the eastern maritime environment of criminal elements, stressing that bunkering was economic sabotage to the nation.

He said: “I am handing over the eight suspected bunkerers to EFCC and formal letter will be completed in my office and signed as a document of the handing over.”

I want to tell Nigerians, especially those living in Cross River, that we are not resting on our oars in the fight against illegal bunkering and oil theft.”