Ogun raid: EFCC links Chinese-run illegal refinery to alcohol, mining operations

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has uncovered suspected illegal businesses, including unregistered alcohol production, timber exports and mining activities, during an investigation into an illegal refinery allegedly operated by Chinese nationals in Ogere, Ogun State.

EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, revealed the findings while inspecting the facility and briefing officials on the commission’s investigation into suspected financial and environmental offences.

The latest findings expand the scope of an earlier operation in which EFCC operatives discovered an abandoned oil processing facility in Ogere on October 31, following weeks of surveillance and intelligence gathering.

During the operation, officers of the commission’s Lagos Zonal Directorate Two found underground tanks believed to have been used to heat and process sludge oil.

Preliminary findings indicated that the operators allegedly obtained the oil waste, also called black sludge, from Warri in Delta State and Port Harcourt in Rivers State before moving it to Ogere for processing.

The commission also disclosed that two tanks at the premises contained substances suspected to be Automotive Gas Oil, AGO, commonly known as diesel.

Olukoyede further linked the discovery to previous enforcement operations against four illegal lithium processing facilities in the area.

He said the commission was widening its investigation to establish the extent of the suspected activities and determine those behind them.