Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State said crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region will continue until the Federal Government begins to prosecute the eminent personalities involved in it.
Uduaghan, who is Chairman, National Economic Council on Crude Oil Theft (NECCOT), stated this in his presentation at the ongoing Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) Conference 2014 in Abuja, the Governor canvassed for collaboration with the international community to end the ugly trend.
He expressed concern at the high rate of oil theft, saying over 80 per cent of the stolen crude oil from the country was being sold in the international oil market, Uduaghan said his committee believed in prosecuting those linked to oil theft in order to reduce the scope of theft.
The Governor expressed regrets that small-time oil thieves were being arrested by security agents and wondered why the big players in the business were being left untouched.
He said the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) had little or nothing to do with oil theft, saying the challenge is a Nigerian problem that needs a Nigerian solution.
The NECCOT chairman also said the country required international collaboration to discourage the patronage of stolen crude oil and to reduce arms shipped into the country which are used for oil theft, because the arms are manufactured abroad.
The Governor said there has to be an improved security programme to address all the challenges, saying they require a lot of facilities including sophisticated surveillance equipments and helicopters to fly day and night, also the pipelines should be buried deeper into the ground and should have censors.
Delta State Government Press Release
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