For decades, Nigeria’s oil theft crisis was largely associated with remote creeks, mangrove swamps and offshore vandalism in the Niger Delta.
Increasingly, however, security agencies say the trade is migrating inland-embedding itself within civilian communities, markets and transport corridors where it can operate under the cover of everyday commerce.
The recent exposure of Owaza Mami Market in Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State as a hub for illegal crude oil bunkering and artisanal refining underscores a broader national trend: oil theft networks are becoming more organised, decentralised and harder to detect.
On January 24, 2026, a joint, intelligence-led operation by Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL) and Government Security Agencies uncovered the market’s hidden role as a storage, processing and distribution centre for stolen crude oil and illegally refined petroleum products.
What appeared to commuters along the Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway as a routine
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