Security agencies have accused some Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs), including oil companies and communities in the Niger Delta, of colluding to steal the country’s oil.
The security agencies said this when they appeared before the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating crude oil theft and loss of revenue accrued from oil and gas in Abuja on Thursday.
A representative of the Nigerian Army, Gabriel Esho, a Brigadier-General, who is in the army’s Department of Operations, said actors responsible for oil theft are often encouraged by the agencies of the Federal Government. He said the international actors are the main perpetrators for lifting crude oil beyond an approved license.
He said there is also sabotage on the part of employees of oil companies, adding that the issue around the overlapping effect of militancy was also a factor, adding that because of the huge market demand for products, there is a huge community involvement in bunkering and illegal refineries.
To check oil theft in Nigeria, Esho called for local involvement and investment in technology, prosecution of oil theft, legalising local refineries and remodelling of existing pipelines.
He expressed worry on the level of theft in the oil sector, querying: “are we sure that the money gotten from oil theft is not what is used to destabilise this country?” According to him, the Nigerian Air Force had been carrying out surveillance, adding that the “challenge is that our access is limited”.
He said the factors that aided oil theft include collaboration and syndicates because oil theft could not be done by one agency alone, adding that it involved value chains of oil production. “We have people that compromise, including domestic and foreigners who are all culpable”, he stated.
The representatives from the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Department of State Service (DSS), and the Norwegian Embassy attended the committee hearing.
