Tag: Oil Theft

“Why there is no end in sight to curbing oil theft in Nigeria” – Engr. Buba Galadima

Aminu Imam

A chieftain of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Engr. Buba Galadima, has warned that there is no end in sight to the massive crude oil theft being experienced in the Niger-Delta area of the country. The elder statesman and renowned politician, who was the Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Authority (NMA), now known as the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA) from 1996 to 1998, stated this while featuring as a guest on the LibertyTV programme: “Democracy in Practice”, yesterday. Galadima, who was asked whether there is any…

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Crude oil theft: NNPC uncovers 4km illegal oil pipeline to loading seaport operated for over 9 yrs

Aminu Imam

The Chief Executive of Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, (NNPC), Mele Kyari, on Tuesday revealed that the Company has uncovered an illegal 4km pipeline from Forcados, in Delta State to the sea, and a loading port that has operated in the last nine years. Mele Kyari made the revelation when he appeared before a joint Senate Committee on Upstream, Downstream and Gas, lamenting that though oil theft in Nigeria has been going on for over 22 years, the rate it has assumed in recent times is unprecedented. He revealed that…

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Economic Disaster: ‘Nigeria faces disaster over escalation of oil theft’ – Kyari

Aminu Imam

The Federal Government yesterday raised the alarm that the country is on the brink of an economic disaster following indiscriminate oil theft, pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta areas, with attendant low oil production. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, raised the alarm when he appeared before the Senate’s joint committees on Petroleum (Downstream), Petroleum (Upstream) and Gas. Answering questions on the state of the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil sector, Kyari also revealed that contrary to speculations, Nigeria…

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War against Crude oil theft: Tompolo’s gunboats storm N/Delta creeks with over 1,000 youths as marine guards 

Aminu Imam

There is tension in the creeks of the Niger Delta region following the deployment of dozens of gunboats and an army of youths in the waterways by a former militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, to fish out pipeline vandals, illegal refiners and illegal oil installations. Recall that the former commander of the Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) recently won an N4.5bn monthly surveillance contract from the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to secure pipelines and oil installations in Delta and some…

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‘Political, economic elites, Nigeria’s biggest oil thieves’ – Policy Expert 

Aminu Imam

Experts in public policy, under the aegis of Nextier SPD, have lamented the quantum of financial losses the country incurs as a result of crude oil theft, saying that the bigger culprits are the political and economic elites. The experts have also said that the incessant award of pipeline protection contracts to non-State actors is a clear case of abdication of state responsibility These were part of the result of the research by Dr. Iro Aghedo, an Associate Consultant at Nextier SPD and senior lecturer, Department of Political Science, University…

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Crude oil theft: ‘Treat stolen Nigerian oil as blood diamonds’ – Mele Kyari tells Int’l Community

Aminu Imam

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited has called on the international community to treat any Nigerian oil from unofficial channels the same way blood diamonds were treated in the recent past. Speaking at the ‘Nigeria International Economic Partnership Forum’ in New York, on Thursday, Kyari said the international community must collaborate with the Nigerian government to stop the illegal trade in Nigeria’s stolen crude oil abroad the same way it is criminalising stolen diamonds from Congo and Sierra Leone. He said, “Oil theft is…

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Crude Oil Theft: ‘Nigerian military guarding oil installations are the chief culprits’ – PENGASSAN

Aminu Imam

Those in the Nigerian military, according to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), are to blame for the country’s alarmingly high rate of crude oil theft. Recall that on Wednesday, Senator Akpan Bassey, presided over a Senate probe into oil theft and smuggling. PENGASSAN made this statement at the hearing. According to the national Head of PENGASSAN, Festus Osifo, oil theft is a joint operation involving the military troops tasked with guarding oil installations and the locals operating illegal refineries. He said that lawbreakers were being…

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“Crude oil thieves are like insurgents; must be treated like terrorists” – Gbajabiamila

Aminu Imam

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has urged the Federal Government to treat oil thieves as terrorists by applying stiff measures to deter others. Gbajabiamila, who made the call on Tuesday while delivering his welcome remarks at the resumption of plenary, said oil theft threatens the survival of the country. The House of Reps. Speaker said the existing arrangement to prevent theft has not worked, hence, the government must consider means to curb the menace of oil theft. According to him, the “972,394 barrels of oil per…

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Economic Sabotage: ‘Massive crude oil thefts pushing Nigeria’s economy into coma’ – Senate President  

Aminu Imam

…Gbajabiamila also expresses concern The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, yesterday lamented that the generation and collection of revenues have remained Nigeria’s major challenges as well as the massive loss of revenue through oil theft, saying it is “debilitating and threatening to throw the nation’s economy into a coma”. Lawan, who made the observation in his opening speech while welcoming his colleagues from the long annual recess, noted that “revelations about the scale of oil theft shows that until the Government take decisive actions, Nigeria could soon lose any such revenue…

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Amidst $5bn revenue loss in 2 months, Peter Obi accuses govt. agencies of massive crude oil theft

Aminu Imam

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, (LP), Peter Obi, says people in the Government are responsible for the massive oil theft that has blocked Nigeria from benefiting from the boom in oil prices and deprived its economy of the much-needed petrodollars. Obi, who stated this during the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) private-sector economic forum yesterday, said, “People in the Government are the ones stealing oil. Nobody here can steal oil. He added that: “There’s no way under my watch that we will not find a solution…

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