The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has raised alarming concerns about widespread oil theft in the country.
During a recent stakeholders meeting in Abuja, NNPCL officials revealed they have traced illegal pipelines leading to mosques, churches, and traditional palaces.
This shocking discovery highlights the extent of oil bunkering in Nigeria, a problem that has plagued the nation for years.
Olufemi Soneye, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPCL, emphasized the urgent need to address the challenges in the oil sector.
“If we do not take care of these issues, there is a problem,” he warned.
He narrated how a vessel arrested for oil theft by the NNPC was rearrested three months later, saying that the low prosecution rate of criminals sabotages efforts to fight crime.
His words:
“I want everyone who is listening, there is a problem. If we do not take care of these issues, there is a problem.
“In November last year, we went to look at a vessel that was caught with crewmen. The chief of army staff was there, the military, air force, the police.It was a very large vessel with about 23 crewmen on board.
“They were arrested and handed over to the military. But it interests you that sometime this year, around February, the same vessel was caught in another place.
“Now you ask, what is the prosecution rate of those stealing the oil?. It is less than two per cent. So you can see the result when you see over 2,500 folks being arrested, but then the prosecution rate is two percent.
The Guardian reports that Soneye described the situation as worrisome, saying the prosecution rate of those stealing oil is very abysmal, which accounts for the widespread theft in the oil industry.
According to him, the NNPC finds it challenging, which is why the company engaged private security firms.
Lamenting the widespread oil bunkering in the country, Soneye said the military and law enforcement agencies are doing their best.
The NNPC spokesman said there is no country in the world where non-state actors protect national assets, noting that Nigeria once produced 900,000 barrels of oil daily.
The NNPC said about 8,000 illegal refineries have been destroyed in the last six months.
The state oil firm also disclosed that 5,800 illegal pipeline connections were found and destroyed in the same period.
