Nigerian Navy has seized a 77-meter-long tanker on allegations of oil theft off the country's coast in Ondo state.
The suspects were caught siphoning oil through a hose pipe connected to one of the wells at an oil field located about seven nautical miles off the coast.
Nigeria has been known to have illegal oil pipelines used for loading stolen oil to vessels used in the lucrative trade.
Some 17 crew members were onboard at the time of the arrest while an unknown number of suspects fled on boats attached to the vessel on sighting naval personnel, the navy said.
Security firm accused
About 500 metric tonnes of crude oil was already loaded on the tanker that has a storage capacity of 15,000 metric tonnes when soldiers boarded it.
The navy said a local security firm in charge of covering the Awoye riverine area was believed to be involved in the alleged theft.
"All criminals and their cohorts are hereby warned that the Nigerian Navy will use all legitimate means at its disposal to track and arrest perpetrators of illegalities in Nigeria's maritime environment," it said in a statement.
Billions lost
Crude oil is Nigeria's main export and authorities say billions of dollars have been lost through such theft. There have been suspicions the trade is controlled by high-ranking security officials and politicians.
In July, the state-owned oil company said an oil tanker carrying 800,000 litres of stolen crude was intercepted offshore while heading to Cameroon.
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