Following a directive from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to secure crude oil production in the Niger Delta, the Armed Forces, in collaboration with the Nigerian Police, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and other security agencies, yesterday, declared fresh war on culprits of oil theft, especially in the Niger Delta, in a bid to improve oil production in the country.
The National Assembly has also pledged support for ongoing efforts to boost Nigeria’s crude oil production and grow its reserves through prescribing laws that entail tougher consequences for crude oil thieves as well as those that vandalise the country’s critical hydrocarbon infrastructure.
Also, the state Coordinator of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Ike Eseka, requested the support and full participation of the Nigerian Army to curb the extensive issues of petroleum products diversion, price gouging, and sale of adulterated fuels in Akwa Ibom State.
While addressing the press after a closed-door meeting with the leadership of NNPCL and heads of security agencies, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, mentioned that the president had tasked them on securing the entire South-south, to enable NNPCL and others to carry out their efforts to improve oil production.
The CDS also promised Nigerians to see the result of the re-ignited war against oil theft within THREE MONTHS.
He affirmed that whatever is happening in the South-south has been ongoing for a long time. He stressed the need to bring the criminal activities to a halt.
Musa vowed that going forward, the entire South-south would be cleared of all acts of vandalism and criminality within the general area.
He added, “Like we said, the president has given us a mandate to ensure that we secure the entire South-south, to enable NNPC and others to carry out their tasks so that we can have improved production.
“We know that Nigeria relies so much on crude oil production, so we want to use this medium to appeal to the communities, to have an understanding. Yes, we know trust has been a problem, but they can trust us, they can trust the government, that we want to do things differently. Everyone will be carried along.”
The CDS said the ongoing war was not only for the security agencies, stating that everyone has a role to play in the renewed anti-oil theft operation.
He said, “We need the communities to understand that pipeline vandalism and all the hazards being caused is also affecting them directly and we need to stop that.
“We need to work together and this meeting we had today is to harmonise that based on the mandates that the president has given us. We are going to work together as a team and all the operations will be harmonised.”
The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, who was also present at the meeting assured Nigerians that in the days ahead, they were going to see results. According to him, cooperation from all involved will provide results in the coming days.
Egbetokun said, “We accept that we have challenges, but we must all come together to solve them. So we need the cooperation of all agencies, we need the cooperation of the citizens. We need to take every step that we need to take to address all these issues.
“I am assuring you that in the days ahead, you are going to see results.”
Solving Fuel vandalism in the past has been unsuccessful as Nigeria continuously loses barrels of fuel daily. Recently, Aliko Dangote, the CEO and owner of Dangote group of companies complained about not having sufficient supply of crude oil despite statistics showing that Nigeria produces 20 million barrels daily.
The Niger Delta region has continuously suffered from illegal and unauthorised mining practices. Despite the huge allocations to the region, development remains limited.
According to Ike Eseka, the state coordinator of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), he complained that the unethical practices of vandals and oil thieves undermined public trust and violated regulatory standards. He mentioned that there was a disturbing trend where petroleum products were being diverted, sold at exorbitant rates, and adulterated, posing severe risks to consumers and the economy.
But then again the communities do not see the impact of the monthly derivative fund paid by the Federal Government to the state government to help address the degradation of the environment as a result of exploration, there are simply no intervention activities or physical developments in the oil producing communities that reflects the trillions of naira received by the state governors over the years.
This should first be addressed, all monies for the communities from the derivative funds that have been embezzled should be gotten back and used for community development and embezzlers prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others. Perhaps with the local governments recently gaining financial autonomy, Individuals responsible for receiving and putting these monies to use can now be held accountable. Structures must be put in place to ensure Accountability, otherwise it will be same tune, different song.
After ensuring that the people of the communities are well taken care of in terms of infrastructural, social and economic development using the derivative fund, anyone then caught involved in oil bunkering and vandalism can be thoroughly dealt with. This way the new war by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stands a higher chance of producing the desired results.
