Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC has decried the involvement of military personnel and other security agencies in crude oil theft and illegal oil bunkering activities in the country.
Recall that several stakeholders including the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, in different fora have pointedly accused military and paramilitary personnel of involvement in illegal oil bunkering activities, while a former Divisional Police Officer of Rumuji in Emohua LGA of Rivers State reportedly owned an illegal oil refining site.
Similarly, the Traditional Ruler of Egbema in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nze Obi Evaristus Amuda, said that llegal oil bunkering activities became prominent in his domain with the deployment of NSCDC personnel to the area.
Speaking, the Executive Director of CISLAC, Mallam Auwal Ibrahim Musa, said all perpetrators must be held to account, adding that securitisation of oil pipelines should be promoted as a collective responsibility.
Musa spoke at the focus group discussion on the barriers and bridges to defence and security accountability in Nigeria, held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.
He said Nigerians take the absence of political convergence as a free ride for military and other security related operations without any limitations and without accountability, stressing that states must adapt to changing needs by prioritizing civilian protection and setting clearer ground rules, among other measures.
“Military and other security agencies involvement in oil theft remains a problem, with armed forces either turning a blind eye or actively profiting from the illegal oil trade throughout the process.
“There have been reports of soldiers protecting the “tapping points”, where crude oil is retrieved from illegally installed taps on the oil pipelines, of armed forces personnel turning a blind eye to, or indeed protecting, illegal bush refineries, and of soldiers soliciting bribes in return for undisturbed passage for illegal oil transportations.
“Recent findings suggest that the issue does need to be investigated further and more data gathered to inform firmer conclusions and better targeted policy recommendations.”
Musa, represented at the event by CISLAC’s Board of Trustees member, Mr Adesina Oke,
recalled that in 2021, Nigeria lost at least $3.5 billion revenue to crude oil theft, a figure that represents 10 percent of Nigeria’s foreign reserves.
“Oil theft and pipeline vandalism threaten oil exploration and accruable revenue. In 2019, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation announced that it lost N159 billion to oil theft and pipeline vandalization.
“Defence and security stakeholders owe it a duty to design the pathway, that ensures that communities are safe, effective and meaningful; with these kinds of efforts to bring peace and stability in conflict.
“This incident confirms the gains of a combined formal security agencies-led and community involvement approach towards securitising oil facilities. The Ikwere model should be assessed to replicate it across the board. The securitisation of oil pipelines should be promoted as a collective responsibility.
“I urge you to strengthen sanctions that holds perpetrators to account. We must move beyond a victim mindset to understanding people and communities as agents of their own protection and experts of their own situation, people in communities who suffer the daily brutalities and violence do not wait for external intervention, this is as a result of trust deficit that is damaged.”
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