26 August 2013, Lagos – Naval personnel at a three-day training on “Maritime Awareness and Operations”, weekend, called for an independent judicial probe, devoid of politicians, into the increasing oil theft in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.
Participants made up of captains and below, lamented that non-prosecution of oil thieves in Nigeria and Gulf of Guinea, was the cause of the increasing illegal bunkering and other criminalities in the nation’s waters and its environs.
In a communiqué at the end of the seminar held at the Naval Training Command, Apapa Lagos, participants attributed high wave of criminality in the Gulf of Guinea to non-existence of functional refinery in Nigeria, making pirates and oil thieves to have access to pipelines conveying crude and oil products.
In his closing remarks, the Flag Officer Commanding Rear Admiral Azubuike Ajuonu, explained that as a major stakeholder in the country’s maritime sector, knowledge of the designated domain was necessary for effective operation towards curbing criminal activities.
– Vanguard