In a bid to win the fight against illegal oil bunkering activities and oil theft in the country, the government has been urged to take the lead in the prosecution of oil thieves and major actors of the crime.
The call was made during a three-day community sensitisation campaign tour to the zones under area of the coverage Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Ltd, PINL, in
the pipeline surveillance contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
The exercise was conducted in conjunction with Inter Atlas, the project management office for the Operation Plug and joint security agencies comprising of the army, navy and Nigerian Civil Defense and Security Corps, NSCDC.
Operations Director, Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Ltd PINL, Femi Alake, who spoke during the visit to some flash points communities of illegal oil bunkering activities such as Rukpoku, Rumuji, Rumuekpe, Ibaa, Ikata, Owaza, Odogwa, Egbema etc, spanning the three states of Abia, Imo and Rivers, on the essence of the campaign was to once again, sensitise the people on the dangers and the negative impacts of illegal activities and why they must stop indulging in it.
He said “The aim of the exercise is a show of force to serve as deterrent for all perpetrators of nefarious activities around the pipelines especially the Eastern corridor”.
Also speaking, the Corridor Lead, Inter Atlas, Mr. Charles, corroborated Alake that the exercise was conducted as show of force to the communities, noting that communities visited were areas they were still having issues.
He said, “The idea of this exercise is to show that we are on ground and also try to feel the pulse of the communities, what they want in terms of what we can achieve in terms of community development. Also sensitisation, to let them to know the effects of pipeline vandalism and effects on the environment and their communities also”.
He added that the aim was to continue to raise terminal receipts at loading terminals until losses through vandalism and oil theft is totally eliminated.
Explaining that the assessment of the impact of the sensitisation exercise would be determined by the terminal receipts in the nearest future, he said the federal government also has some responsibilities to ensure the aim of the exercise is achieved.
“Our achievements are actually measured in terms of Key Performance Indices (KPI), that is we measure our achievements in terms of terminal receipts that we receive at the loading terminal. So far in comparison from where we started from, we have done quite okay but there’s is still room for a lot of improvement.
“But also, there’s certain aspects that have to do with government intervention. Where government has to take lead role in terms of prosecution. Those areas have not actually been attended to. Many of these bunkerers are arrested and are ultimately released by the police, which also endangers the security companies that we have on ground. You can imagine, arresting someone from your community that was involved in oil bunkering and after one week, the police has released the person.
“That doesn’t just endanger the security personnel, it also dampens their morale to see that somebody who was arrested is released without prosecution. So that aspect of prosecution is something government has to pay attention to.
“Because if you see the trend now we have moved from massive illegal refinery to very small ones. They just bring it out from their rooms, do small cooking in the night and they can dismantle everything and hide back in their house. So the easiest way to curb this trend now is actually to work with the communities, get intelligence from these communities. But you cannot get intelligence when you keep releasing these culprits after they’re being arrested. So we are also looking at government to do a lot when it comes to dispensation of justice for arrested persons,” he said.
Our Correspondent reports that handbills with messages; “Crude oil theft destroys our land, say no to crude oil theft in Nigeria. “Stop crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, offenders will be arrested and jailed”, as well as some telephone numbers to encourage whistle blowers to report offenders, were shared to the people.
At Umuololo Community in Owaza kingdom, Abia state, the youths could not hide their anger and disappointment with the government over the neglect of their area despite the high volume of crude oil extracted from their land and numerous oil facilities the area hosts.
They demanded employment for the youths, good roads, electricity and other amenities which were clearly lacking in the area whose only major road is the one leading to the oil facilities in their land.
A Community Chief, Chukwuemeka Chibundu who spoke on behalf of the community re-echoed the complaints of the youths and advised that government should raise its game in its relationship with the communities as an incentive to the youths against vandalism and oil theft.
He added that the companies involved in the oil and security business should also sensitise their staff who he accused of being active participants in the nefarious act.
Similar reactions were received from many other communities where the team visited to address the people. Most of the communities were unhappy and frustrated by the negligence of their communities by the government, as they lamented lacked of basic amenities.
