The Academy of International Affairs has implored the Minister of Petroleum Resources, who is the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, to urgently put in place a collective global action on the unwholesome trend of oil theft in Nigeria.
This was contained in a statement issued by President and Fellow of the Academy of International Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, on behalf of Fellows of the Academy.
According to the statement, President Buhari should institute a Judicial Board of Inquiry on oil Thefts in Nigeria, covering Crude Oil and Petroleum Products, the unending turn around maintenance of refineries and other petroleum, with a view to finding the causes of oil thefts, prosecuting the culprits and putting an end to the scandals.
The Academy lamented that illegal Oil bunkering has been going on for a long time under the watch of government officials including many of the security personnel that are charged with guarding the most vital source of revenue earnings of this country.
“The most troubling aspect of the situation is that despite the presence of armed security personnel, including the army, navy, Police, Security and Civil defense, customs and others, apart from NNPCLR, oil thefts have been going on with reckless abandon.”
“Is it not a big shame that a private company, Tanita Security Services Limited, owned by High Chief Government Ekpemupolo popularly known as TomPolo had to be employed where Nigerian security failed, and TomPolo’s company discovered and unfolded “hidden” though an open secret, export pipelines be utilized by oil thieves to illegally bunker our vital resources. Certainly this sophisticated 4 km pipeline discovered by TomPolo and other pipelines around the oil producing areas in the Delta region and the creeks could not have been constructed and installed by the natives without being found out by the Nigerian security.”
“Is it not nerve-racking that the Ministers of Petroleum Resources for many years have been the Presidents of this country and under their watch, so much oil revenues has been stolen resulting in large amounts of our revenues going in to dangerous cartels and private hands rather than government coffers. This is totally unacceptable.”
