Mr Folorunsho said an anti-crude oil theft patrol team was deployed to the area, leading to the discovery of an active illegal refining site.
Mr Folorunsho said the site, located along the Alakiri River, contained about 10 dugout pits cumulatively laden with approximately 45,000 litres of stolen crude oil.
Mr Folorunsho said the operation demonstrated the navy’s renewed momentum in tackling crude oil theft and other maritime crimes.
The exercise, flagged off by the flag officer commanding, Chidozie Okehie, was conducted at the Nigeria Navy Ship VICTORY jetty in Calabar.
The facility was built under a special “Quick Impact Project” of the chief of the naval staff, Idi Abbas, in honour of Patrick Nwatu (Rtd).
NSC’s executive secretary, Pius Akutah, made the appeal on Thursday when a delegation from the western naval command paid a courtesy visit to the council’s headquarters in Lagos.
Naval chiefs of the ECOWAS member states recently convened in Accra to strengthen the Combined Maritime Task Force in response to growing threats in the Gulf of Guinea.
The commander explained that drugs handed over to the NDLEA were destroyed by burning after a court injunction had been obtained.
Mr Adoki was commissioned into the Nigerian Navy in 2000, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics.
Mr Omotayo said the seized items were intercepted during a series of targeted, intelligence-led operations.
