President Bola Tinubu has been advised by a retired Navy Admiral to blow-up vessels with stolen crude oil along with their crew members.
The Admiral, who manned the maritime sector and witnessed the impunity with which crude oil thieves operated, said: “Direct the military to blow up any ship used in stealing our crude oil, sink the ship with its crew, do so two or three times, and see if crude oil theft will not be a thing of the past in Nigeria,”.
According to him, his suggestion was backed by his knowledge of the impunity with which the crude oil thieves operate because many top Nigerians are involved in the illicit business.
He noted that any government without the strong political will to stop the menace of crude oil theft would end up merely mouthing their intention without achieving tangible results, as had always been the case with past governments. He also revealed that top politicians, key government agencies, and security agents were also involved in the illegal business of crude oil theft.
Recall that recently, the Senate disclosed that the country had lost N2.3 trillion to the menace of crude oil theft in 2023 alone. Describing crude oil as Nigeria’s blood, the Admiral stated that the Government must be able to declare war on anybody “who is sucking that oil, because the result of such action would lead to our death; so, we have to kill the person before he kills us”.
He indicted the Judiciary, banks, some legislators, both serving and retired, Nigerian companies, and security agencies as culprits in the menace of crude oil theft in Nigeria. “Government should be bold enough if it wants to stop this thing, by declaring illegal oil bunkering activities as a war against Nigeria and that all security agencies should attack that vessel with whatever resource they have on board”, he stated.
Security agencies, especially the Navy and oil companies have been the most accused of culpability. However, the revelation from the retired security personnel indicted the Judiciary for aiding and abetting perpetrators of crude oil theft.
He accused the Judiciary of frustrating the efforts of security agents, disclosing that immediately after suspects were arrested with evidence of stealing the nation’s oil and charged to court, they would be released in a short time and would return to their stock in trade.
On the way forward, the retired Admiral said, “The ships are owned by the big Ogas; all of them, from up to bottom, our senators, top Nigerians in and outside Government and the rest, are all part of the show. The way forward, as I stated earlier, is for the government to declare any person stealing our oil as an enemy of the state and such an enemy should be attacked with full force”.
