Nigeria, the giant of Africa, has been persistently plagued with crude oil theft that has sabotaged the country’s economy and massively reduced foreign revenue generation.
A few days after the discovery of over 300 illegal refineries and about 58 illegal pipeline violations, the Federal Government has yet again discovered another illegal oil pipeline in Delta State.
The newly discovered illegal oil pipeline is connected to the 48 inches Trans Forcados Export Trunk line at the military security base in Burutu Local Government Area, Delta State.
The illegal crude oil pipeline which was discovered is said to have been attached to 400,000 barrels Forcados terminal, the second largest crude oil pipeline in the oil-producing region of the Niger Delta.
Investors King learnt that the illegal oil pipeline has been directly connected to the Forcados pipeline and ran down a 4 km road into the sea for easy theft.
Reacting to the series of oil theft, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has requested the Federal Government to set up a transparent presidential panel to investigate the operations of oil theft in the country.
SERAP, in an open letter to the office of the President, said that crude oil is Nigeria’s source of wealth and the plundering of the country’s wealth has resulted in revenue decline while increasing the country’s deficit, with a deficit budget of N11.30 trillion for 2023.
SERAP stated that Nigeria has reportedly lost $10 billion to crude oil theft in seven months, which is more than 50% of Nigeria’s external reserves.
The letter partly read, “The proposed presidential panel of inquiry should be headed by a retired justice of the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal, and its members should include people with proven professional records and of the highest integrity that can act impartially, independently, and transparently.
“SERAP is concerned that the unaddressed plundering of the country’s oil wealth has for many years contributed to shrinking revenue, chronic underfunding of public goods and services such as education, health, and access to safe drinking water, recurring budget deficits, growing level of borrowing, and unsustainable debt profile.”
The newly discovered illegal pipeline was made public by a security agency (Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited) which was led by High Chief Government Ekpemupolo popularly known as Tompolo.
Chief Keston Pondi, the Managing Director of Tantita Security Services said that the agency has discovered so many illegal breaches only in the western part and it would be difficult to give an exact amount of illegal pipelines that have been discovered so far.