No fewer than 157 incidents of crude oil theft were recorded in the Niger Delta between December 30, 2023 and January 5, 2024.
The NNPCL Command and Control Centre, 2; Nigeria Agip Oil, 62; Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited, 29; Maton Engineering Limited, 18; Tantita Security Services Limited, 8; Shell Petroleum Development Company, 4; and government security agencies, 34 were among the incidence sources from which the cases were reported, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
According to a (3m:23s) video posted on its X handle on Tuesday, the NNPCL disclosed that 52 illegal refineries were discovered in Abia, Imo, Rivers, and Bayelsa States, where the illegal refineries were destroyed.
It was stated that “32 illegal connections were uncovered in several parts of the Niger Delta,” including Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers States.
It was gathered that illegal connections were also removed along the central corridor in the Niger Delta, while seven illegal storage sites were uncovered in Akwa Ibom.
Similarly, the NNPCL revealed through the video that buried drums of crude oil were unearthed and some were discovered in bushes.
In Oporoma, Bayelsa State and Oleh in Warri, sacks of stolen crude oil were reportedly discovered and confiscated.
Also in Delta State, drums filled with stolen crude oil were found in the river, while oil well heads were vandalised in Rivers State.
In the past week, 25 cases of pipeline vandalism were recorded across several communities.
“12 vehicles conveying stolen crude were arrested in the past week across several locations in Rivers and Delta States, while 24 wooden boats conveying stolen crude were arrested and confiscated.
“Nine of these incidences took place in the deep blue water, 45 in the Eastern region, 95 in the Central region, while eight took place in the Western region,” it was disclosed.
In the period under review, NNPCL said “17 suspects were arrested” in connection with the incident.
“For NNPCL, there is no backing down against crude oil theft except the menace is eradicated for good,” the company said.
Earlier report had it that the Federal Government revealed that more than N4.3tn worth of crude oil was stolen in 7,143 pipeline vandalism cases within five years.