Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta has emphasised the need to be proactive in the fight against oil theft in the Niger Delta region.
Uduaghan made the call at the second edition of the Delta Oil and Gas Industry Stakeholders’ Conference at the Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, on Tuesday.
The theme of the two day conference is “Securing Oil and Gas Investment in Delta: The Role of Stakeholders, Oil and Gas Company, Host communities, Government and Society’’.
He said that if illegal bunkering was not nipped in the bud it would have an adverse effect on future generation.
According to him, if we are not able to stop illegal bunkering today, it will take about 50 years to clean up the environment to its natural state.
Uduaghan stressed the need to also look at the environmental degradation by crude oil while focusing at the dwindling revenue occasioned by crude oil theft, adding that “Environmental pollution has greatly affected our ecosystem.”
The governor assured the people that the Petroleum Industry Bill when passed into law would address most of the challenges faced in the region.
Rear Adm. Samuel Alade, Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Western Naval Command, alleged that oil bunkers collaborated with workers in the oil companies to perpetrate the illicit act. “Most of the oil thefts are perpetrated at the loading points and some of the oil workers are involved,” he said.
Alade exonerated the Navy from the crime, adding that it only apprehended criminals and hand them over to the appropriate authorities for prosecution.
“We operate within the ambit of the law. Navy is not allowed to prosecute criminals rather we hand them over to the police or the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for prosecution.”
Alade identified poor logistics as a great challenge to the fight against crude oil theft in the country and urged government to provide more offshore patrol vessels to enhance their operations in waterways.
The FOC recommended collaborations among the navy, the multinationals and the host communities to effectively eradicate oil bunkering in the country.
The Manager, Ogoni Restoration Project of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Augustine Igbuku, identified poverty and high unemployment as some of the factors fuelling crude oil theft.
Igbuku, who represented the Managing Director of SPDC, Mutiu Sunmonu, said crude oil theft was a serious concern to the people, environment and the economy.
“Crude oil theft increases arm proliferation, attraction to crime, higher incidence of school dropouts, increase inflow of migrant workers to service the illegal business.
“There is need to improve intelligence gathering, stronger policing and prosecution of suspected criminals, to effectively tackle the menace,’’ he said.
Ayiri Emami, who represented Itsekiri Development Council, said that the community, security agencies and the multinational were all involved in the illicit business and called for a better understanding between the communities and the governments to address the challenges.
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