In January 2019, security operatives conducting surveillance on oil installations in Lagos State, nabbed Mr. Shuaibu Ogunmola, an alleged kingpin of oil pipeline vandalism in Lagos State, who it claimed was responsible for loss of millions of litres of petroleum products daily.
This is coming several years after the menace of oil theft — comprising both crude oil and petroleum products theft — reached alarming proportion and was brought to the knowledge of the populace. As a result of this, Nigeria is currently bleeding from the massive loss of revenue to crude oil theft and vandalism that had continued unhindered in the country and which seems to have defied all solutions.
From the NNPC reports, between May 2018 and May 2019, the country lost N188.8 billion to crude oil and petroleum products theft. These holes which are cast in drums receive products simultaneously from the labyrinth of pipelines connected to the trunk line directly linked to the ruptured NNPC line. In the Niger Delta, with the rise of illegal artisanal refineries, crude oil theft had recorded significant rise. In most cases, these oil thieves, in connivance with security operatives, former NNPC and oil companies’ staff, and communities among others, drill small holes into the pipelines, while the commodity is siphoned into barrels and taken by specially crafted boats, to illegal artisanal refineries littered across the Niger Delta.
The barges can take up to 3,000 to 18,500 barrels of crude oil, while the tankers can take from 31,000 to 62,000 barrels of crude. The stolen crude oil somehow manages to evade detection of the authorities, while the vessels used in this illicit venture navigate the country’s waters and manage to leave the country with the stolen commodity without arrest. The stolen crude oil are normally sold on the international market.
“For those of you who are very conversant with the field like most of us, when you go in with your Hilux, in not less than five minutes after you enter those areas, you see up to 15 to 20 motorbikes following you, asking you what you are looking for in their land; but then, tankers go to the same place to perpetrate bad activities, they are never found, they are never seen.”
It said, “Often this benefit comes from providing ‘protection’ – both ensuring military officials turn a blind eye to illegal activity and protecting oil thieves’ access to extraction points from rivals – in exchange for financial bribes. “A more recent analysis quotes one worker employed by an illegal refinery pointing out a Nigerian military helicopter flying over the site of his operation after flames and smoke – all by-products of the oil refining processes – had been released into the air. There was, however, no investigation and no attempt to close down the illegal cooking pot.
The global extractive industry watchdog also stated that oil theft tends to rise during periods of high crude oil prices and in periods of increased production, as well as when militants groups are signaling the need for renegotiation of their amnesty payoffs. In October 2018, officers of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, arrested 35 oil thieves and oil well head vandals in Rivers State; while in September 2018, officers from the Nigerian Navy arrested 14 suspects with nine trucks laden with petroleum products and crude oil in Rivers state.
It has also led to a rise in the activities of bush refineries and brought about a major devastation of land and water in the Niger Delta region, to the extent that the cleanup of Ogoniland is estimated to cost $1 billion for 1,000 square kilometers. The NNRC disclosed that these criminal gangs enjoy support from locals due to under development of the region and minimal government support and infrastructure; while it alleged complicity by highly placed civilians and military personnel who secure release of arrested vandals.
A social development consultant, Mr. Niyi Awodeyi, noted that most of the children in the Niger Delta, instead of focusing on their education, are attracted to the crude oil theft business. According to him, the national database of oil fingerprint would mark Nigerian oil with covert molecular fuel markers, that would be virtually impossible for thieves to detect and also allow regulators to determine if fuel sold at dispensing stations are from illegal sources or not.