A delegation by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to find out the level of oil theft in Niger Delta on Saturday, discovered an illegal oil pipeline installation Owaza, Abia State.
In the press release by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the menace causes the country an average of $7.2 million on a monthly basis.
NNPCL maintained that clandestine refineries and the environmental degradation discovered by the emissaries caused the nation huge economic losses.
The delegation, led by the Minister of Defence, Malam Muhammed Badaru, has service chiefs and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, as members.
Other members are Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr Ekperipe Ekpo, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, and Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Ltd.
The Commander of “Operation Delta Safe,” Rear Admiral Olusegun Ferreira, operatives of security agencies, and chief executive officers of regulatory agencies in the oil and gas sector were also part of the visit.
They assessed the Trans-Niger Pipeline’s right of way in Owaza, Abia State, leading to the discovery of dismantled illegal connection.
“We are ready to do whatever it takes for a peaceful Niger Delta,” Badaru stated, urging the perpetrators to “cease and desist from crude oil theft and economic sabotage.”
