The Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, yesterday, said it was handicapped in stemming the rising incident of pipeline vandalisation and crude theft in Nigeria, raising concerns that the trend may continue unabated in the next couple of months.
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Speaking during a visit of the House of Representatives' Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) to DPR as part of their oversight function, Mr. George Osahon, Director, Petroleum Resources, said DPR was not empowered to monitor the pipelines and was presently not in a better position to address the anomaly.
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According to him, DPR was not an enforcer and does not carry arms, adding, however, that it intends putting in place the necessary machinery to address this ugly trend.
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Mr. Ajibola Muraino, Chairman of the Committee said the development was threatening Nigeria's revenue and if left unchecked, will attain a worrisome dimension.
Vandalism is definately something that should not in anyway be supported in Nigeria as a country....It ridicules Africa as a whole!