…Blames the armed forces, oil drilling companies, government officials.
Former Federal Commissioner for Information and South-South leader Edwin Clark has called President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately establish a judicial inquiry to look into the criminal conduct of high-level crude oil theft in the Niger Delta.
Speaking in light of the recent discovery of a four-kilometer illicit oil pipeline carrying crude to pirate ships and a platform on the high seas, Clark bemoaned the fact that crude oil theft has reduced Nigeria’s revenue and is harming the nation’s economy.
Speaking to journalists yesterday at his Asokoro residence in Abuja, Clark emphasized that it is unfair and unjust to hold the residents of the host communities or oil-producing regions accountable for the theft of crude oil. Clark claimed that a cartel of government officials, oil companies, and security agents are responsible for the theft of crude oil.
Clark, among others, demanded an explanation from those in charge of the oil industry as to why the nefarious activities in the Niger-Delta are taking place. Clark claimed that southerners face discrimination in the hiring practices of oil companies.
Modular Refineries
He pushed for modular refineries to take the place of the illegal refineries that are destroying the environment in the Niger-Delta region. He also renewed his call for international oil companies, or IOCs, to move their operational headquarters there.
The Ijaw chieftain insisted that the amount of crude oil being illegally exported from Nigerian waters by ships is not similar to the amount of crude oil being stolen by artisanal Niger Deltans.
“The news that there is an illicit four-kilometer pipeline, through which crude oil is being siphoned, goes to confirm what I have always said over the years and what the leaders of the Niger-Delta have been shouting about, that the issue of oil theft is being perpetuated by some mafia-like groups, with the connivance of some people in the oil industry, using sophisticated engineering methods,” the elder statesman, who serves as the chairman of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum”.
“Even more disturbing is that these activities have been going on over the years under the watchful eyes of the military and security personnel, who are unfortunately accused of being involved in these criminal acts. These individuals are supposed to be protecting these oil pipelines with the large number of gunboats to patrol the area.
The host communities, from which these oil explorations are conducted, but who are also the victims of the activities because they are powerless to control the oil companies and security officials, have consistently raised the alarm that the amount of oil theft currently occurring is nothing compared to what the artisanal refinery operators are doing. What is happening is a sophisticated criminal act that a syndicate is carrying out.
If there is a sincere desire to figure out what is going on, a thorough, open, and thorough examination into this problem is required.
The elder statesman said that a thorough investigation is necessary to identify those responsible, particularly the military personnel. He pointed out that the heist was discovered by the private security firm Tantita Security Services Limited, run by Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, and the community youths he recruited.
According to Clark, the military was involved in the recent conviction of two naval officers for bunkering the MT African Pride by a court martial.
Clark stated: “The two senior officers appear to have got off lightly without being sent to jail. Nevertheless, the court martial’s decision was a scathing condemnation of the Navy as a whole. For the first time ever, it provided official confirmation of long-held suspicions that top Navy officers were deeply involved in bunkering.
Theft of crude oil is unquestionably a component of the general corruption that is strangling Nigeria. The elimination of corruption in our nation is a problem that neither the federal nor state administrations are willing to take seriously.
The snatching takes place at oil terminals where crude oil is exported as well as through pipelines that are on land and under water.
The leader of the Southern and Middle Belt Leadership Forum, Clark, claimed that Northerners had continued to control the oil business and that this discrimination had occurred even in the study of the new discovery.
When the revelation was publicized, several government officials and certain leaders of security forces went to the creeks to see the discovery for themselves, according to Clark. The other government officials interviewed by the team that traveled there, including the Chief of Defense Staff, General Lucky Irabor, and the Managing Director of Tantita Security Services Limited, Keston Pondi, are from the country’s north.
The marginalization and neglect of the people of the Niger-Delta are once again brought to light by this. Therefore, we once more demand that those who have dominated the oil business provide an explanation for why these evil deeds have persisted in the Niger-Delta for so long.
“All government officials, including the military, top NNPCL officials, and their collaborators, who have inflicted such magnitude of harm on the country and on the Niger-Delta communities, endangering the life and well-being of the people of the oil-bearing communities, must be exposed by the investigation into this matter, which has been severely affecting the national economy.
They basically subsist in splendor off the blood of the residents of the towns that make the oil.
“It is dangerously unbelievable that crude oil theft has expanded in scope, to the point where the amount of crude oil we export today is less than the amount being taken by a gang of thieves of various designations, despite all the security measures in place.
“Government officials, oil firms, and security personnel work together in a well-organized conspiracy to steal crude oil.
As a result, it is unfair and unjust to hold the residents of host communities or oil-producing regions accountable for the theft of crude oil. When compared to the extensive theft of crude oil by some international organizations, working with some members of the security forces, these folks take very little or nothing at all while not defending these host communities.
“Oil of this magnitude is not being lifted or marketed by the host communities of the Niger Delta people. The residents of the Niger-Delta are currently among of the poorest in the nation. This cannot go on indefinitely.
I have been singled out and labeled an enemy of the federal government and an anti-north due to my persistent criticism of the NNPCL and the federal government regarding the operation of the oil industry in the Niger Delta.
I have also repeatedly called attention to the employment policy in the oil industry, where the majority of workers, particularly at the managerial cadres, are northerners.
It is now obvious that the perception that the enormous oil theft is being committed mostly by the Niger Delta youths was intentionally established by the oil sector executives to mask their criminal conduct, said Clark, who made plain that he was not defending Niger Delta youths over bunkering.
Tantita Security Services Limited, the security firm employed by Chief Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo), has now learned the truth. Even though they are competent, the oil firms and the NNPCL have refused to hire Niger Delta youths, which is why many have turned to bunkering as a means of livelihood.
“They don’t engage in the sophisticated form of bunkering, as I always claimed. They engage in what I refer to as jerry can or bucket bunkering. None of them could build their own local boats instead of renting one like the MT African Pride from abroad to commit theft.
He said that there have been occasions where northerners have been hired over Niger Delta youngsters for positions in the oil industry.