FG Talks Tough, Moves Against Oil Thieves

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday deployed the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Mr. Timipre Sylva, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari as well as the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor to assess the level of oil theft in the Niger Delta.

The development followed public outrage against the massive stealing of Nigeria’s crude oil, which had hobbled the country’s ability to meet the quota allocated by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, had on Monday lamented the unprecedented rate of oil theft recorded in recent times and its debilitating effect on government revenue and accretion to reserves.

The governor’s comment came a day after THISDAY reported similar concerns expressed by the Co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Energy Plc, Mr. Austin Avuru, who called for a state of emergency in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.

He revealed that up to 80 per cent of oil pumped in the country, particularly in the East, is stolen.

Avuru spoke a few days after a businessman and Chairman Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu, also bemoaned the worsening state of the industry, stressing that about 95 per cent of oil production does not get to the terminal.

Earlier, Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company (AEEPCO), operators of the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) pipeline, had threatened to exit the facility due to incessant vandalism, perennial sabotage and outright theft.

However, at the group’s first ports of call in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, Delta and Bayelsa states yesterday, Sylva who described the perpetrators as criminals, said the deployment of top stakeholders by Buhari was to underscore the importance of the situation.