The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said the Federal Government is determined to end crude oil theft through “the deployment of technology and additional security measures”.
He noted that the nefarious activities of pipeline vandals had caused Nigeria to lose approximately 700,000 barrels of oil daily; a trend which investment in technology will help curb.
Mohammed, according to a statement on Friday by the Special Assistant to the President (Media), Segun Adeyemi, made the remarks at a press briefing in Abuja after the aerial surveillance of the Trans-Forcados oil pipeline, Rivers State.
“The investment in technology has become critical because the nefarious activities of vandals are causing Nigeria to lose approximately 700,000 barrels of oil daily,” Mohammed said.
According to him, the continued campaign security agencies has led to the “arrest of 210 suspects and confiscation of 20.2 million litres of AGO, 461.8 thousand litres of PMS, 843.6 thousand litres of DPK, and 383.5 thousand barrels of crude oil.”
He added, “An additional 365 illegal refining sites were destroyed, with about 1,054 refining ovens, 1,210 metal storage tanks, 838 dugout pits, and 346 reservoirs destroyed by the GSAs.
“We witnessed first-hand a number of illegal refineries destroyed by our military in the course of our aerial surveillance.”
Mohammed said many vehicles, crude mining and bunkering equipment, such as speed boats, wooden boats, trucks and tankers, had also been confiscated.
“The new security architecture leverages collaboration between the upstream operators, industry regulators, government security agencies, and private security contractors,” he said.