September 03, (THEWILL) – Alongside corruption, crude oil theft has undermined Nigeria’s socio-economic growth for much of the country’s existence as a nation. Though corruption took root much earlier, oil theft became really entrenched during the military dictatorships of the seventies and eighties when brass hats got deeply involved in the illicit business. Aided by corruption, oil theft and pipeline vandalism have become frightening spectres in Nigeria’s downstream sector, draining the national coffers in trillions of naira and posing an environmental risk to communities in the Niger Delta. What is the way out of this economic and environmental mess? THEWILL asks. Michael Jimoh reports…
Sometime in April this year, former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva, crowed to Nigerians that oil thieves make off with 400, 000 barrels of crude every day. Himself a native of the Niger Delta and as former governor of Bayelsa state, he should know. He would have been privy to security reports of dozens of illegal refineries and those behind it in the state he ruled for five years.
But his brief as governor of a state in the Niger Delta didn’t cover what was clearly the preserve of the Federal Government. As a junior minister, he had to report to someone higher up so there wasn’t much he could do anyway. Still, he got the figure of stolen crude on a daily basis right on the beam. Barely a month after his disclosure, Sylva finished his term as junior minister.
Late last month during a visit to two oil and gas facilities in Abia and Rivers states, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu repeated what Sylva already told Nigerians to wit: the country loses 400, 000 barrels of crude daily to thieves and saboteurs. The two communities he visited are Owaza in Abia state and Odogwu in Etche local government area of Rivers state. The NSA was accompanied by Baduru Abubakar, Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Hassan Abubakar, Chief of Air Staff (CAS), and Bello Matawalle, Minister of State for Defence.
What the NSA and his delegation saw – artisanal refineries – was not a pleasant sight at all. It was galling to behold the economic sabotage those illegal refineries were causing the Nigerian economy.
“It’s unfortunate that few individuals would steal our common resources, and in the process cause unbelievable loss to both the nation, communities and the people,” Ribadu said. “Nigeria has the capacity to produce two million barrels of crude daily, but we are currently producing less than 1.6 million barrels due to theft and vandalism of pipelines. So, we are talking about 400,000 barrels of crude oil going to waste.”
In a post-visit interaction with journalists, Ribadu estimated that, in today’s exchange rate with the dollar, “400,000 barrels of oil today is about 4 million dollars, and every day, we lose this amount because of this irresponsible behaviour. If you multiply 4 million dollars by 365 days (one year), you will see that it is a lot of money running into billions of dollars.”
Three months before he left office as Vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo made a similarly dismal disclosure of the millions of dollars lost to oil thieves. Quoting a source at the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Osinbajo said the estimated figure of oil theft and loss for I0 years from 2010 – 2020 was 619.7 million barrels of crude oil daily. In all, it was valued at $46 billion or N16.25 trillion.
In an opinion piece by Anthony Osas Okungbowa published in THISDAY last year, the lawyer asked the question on everyone’s mind concerning oil theft: “Crude Oil Theft: Whither Nigeria?” “Crude oil theft has been part of our history of oil exploration for a very long time,” Okungbowa began in his piece. “But in recent times, this issue has assumed dangerous dimensions with the damage caused to the National Economy and its impact on sub-nationals in Nigeria.
“The print and electronic media have been awash lately with reports of discoveries of pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft in the Niger Delta, resulting in multi-million naira losses to Nigeria daily. The impact of this malaise has been so monumental that Nigeria is on the brink of the cliffs economically. The revelations have been astonishing and everyone is concerned.”
In his view, “crude oil theft has gone on in Nigeria for years. Unfortunately, not much has been done to stem its tide. For a country that depends almost entirely on this economic good for its sustenance, this apathy is difficult to understand.”
What is also difficult to understand is why the government has not unmasked those behind the fuel subsidy scam. “Many questions readily come to mind,” Okungbowa suggests. “Who are those responsible for this “attempted homicide” on Nigeria? What action is being taken to stem the tide? Are the revelations which we now see new? What was done in respect of similar revelations in the past? Did we learn anything from our previous experiences and what action(s) were taken to prevent a recurrence? Many many questions. Not enough answers.”
But there may have been answers to some of the questions at a recent breakout meeting of the Nigerian Bar Association in Abuja and some of them came from a prominent member of NBA, Mike Ozekhome SAN. In his presentation, Ozekhome made a case that stiffer punishment should be handed to crude oil thieves. Government should also legalise illegal refineries operating in the Niger Delta.
“The Impact of Maritime Security Threats on the Nigerian Economy: Nigerian Navy Perspective” was the topic of discussion at the NBA conference and the Constitutional lawyer offered some suggestions that might curb or even stop oil thieves. “If you have a security man in your house and thieves invade your house, you will definitely blame the security man,” he said. “The Navy is saddled with the responsibility of protecting our territorial waters from crude oil theft and so it cannot say it is free from theft of crude oil in the country. How can the Navy say that they do not know how a huge sea vessel will disappear from the high sea as if it is a spirit?”
He boldly opined that “these vessels that carry this stolen crude are escorted by security personnel, who are these personnel; is it not the Navy that has responsibility?” He also blamed state authorities, comparing the situation to that of a non-state actor becoming more powerful than the state itself. “The people stealing the oil are government officials in collaboration with the Nigerian Navy,” Ozekhome said. “The Navy has the constitutional duty to protect the nation’s territorial waters and all the economic activities therein.”
Of course, the Nigeria Navy was ably represented by one of them at the conference, Cdr. Obiora Anyikwa who also identified “crude oil theft, smuggling and illegal refineries as major security threats in Nigeria’s maritime environment.”
For Anyikwa, “participation of non-state actors undermine the authority of the navy in performing its duties,” insisting that “lack of prosecutorial powers and lack of appropriate maritime legislations as well as lack of funding are some other challenges.”
Also speaking on behalf of the Nigeria Navy was Rear Admiral Patrick Effah who said that the NN was unfairly blamed for oil theft in the Niger Delta. Though he admitted that “corruption and compromise were some of the factors responsible for the thriving business of piracy and crude oil theft,” he nonetheless declared that there were some forces in government that were making their job difficult.
“When we arrest a vessel with abundant evidence of illegal crude,” Effah stated, “we are inundated with court orders to release such vessels. Even when they are prosecuted, very minimal fines are given and they are released. How can that be the fault of the navy?”
In mid-June, former Niger Delta militant Mujahid Asari Dokubo accused the military (Army and Navy) of being behind much of the oil theft in the Niger Delta, challenging them to clear their names if it was not so.
Despite his accusation, there are those who feel that oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta is actually a smooth operation masterminded by locals in collaboration with the military. In a BBC publication last October bylined Nduka Orjinmo and headlined “Nigeria’s stolen oil, the military and a man named Government” the journalist wrote that “network of illegal oil pipelines being unearthed in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region has revealed the extent of oil theft in the country, astounding even the most cynical about Nigeria’s obscure but hugely lucrative oil industry.”
“In Delta state, thieves built their own 4km- (2.5 mile) long pipeline through the heavily guarded creeks to the Atlantic Ocean. There, barges and vessels blatantly loaded the stolen oil from a 24-foot rig visible from miles on the open waters. It was a professional job,” said the head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mele Kyari, wading through the swamps as he retraced the slick path during a televised visit to the scene.”
Continuing in his report, Orjinmo added that “many are saying that the recent discovery of the illegal pipelines confirms long-held suspicions of massive corruption in the sector where there is little transparency. Nigeria’s oil industry has a documented history of corruption, from an unending fuel subsidy scheme where no-one actually knows how much is imported, to the shadowy allotment of oil exploration blocks.”
On Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo, Orjinmo said that Tompolo “is no ordinary private security contractor. The 51-year-old chief from Gbaramatu kingdom in oil-rich Delta state was in the past involved in blowing up the very oil pipelines he is now guarding after a controversial 48bn naira ($110m; £98m) contract from the government at the end of August. He is arguably Nigeria’s richest ex oil-militant, was once the country’s most wanted man, and at one point even sold the country a fleet of warships. He also knows the geography of the Niger Delta, the oil wells and official pipelines, so many believe his comments about the identity of the thieves.”
Till date, no one has come out to challenge Tompolo’s comments about the identity of the oil thieves in the Niger Delta. More astonishingly, no one doubted Asari Dokubo when he made his now (in) famous claim about the military responsible for much of the oil theft in the Niger Delta.
Until the shadowy thieves are finally exposed, you can be sure that in the next couple of years, the NSA will tell Nigerians that so and so amount of barrels of oil are lost to thieves daily, monthly or annually.
About the Author
Michael Jimoh is a Nigerian journalist with many years experience in print media. He is currently a Special Correspondent with THEWILL.
