Saturday, a delegation sent by President Bola Tinubu to assess the oil theft situation in the Niger Delta discovered an unauthorized oil connection.
The illicit connection discovered in Owaza, Abia State, costs the country an average of $7,2 million per month, according to a statement released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
NNPCL added that clandestine refineries and the environmental devastation the team saw translated into severe economic losses for the nation.
The delegation, led by the Minister of Defence, Malam Muhammed Badaru, has service chiefs and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, as members.
oil theft
Other members are Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr Ekperipe Ekpo, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, and Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Ltd.
Also on the team are the Commander of “Operation Delta Safe,” Rear Admiral Olusegun Ferreira, operatives of security agencies, and chief executive officers of regulatory agencies in the oil and gas sector.
The group went to the Trans-Niger Pipeline right of way at Owaza, Abia, and discovered a slew of disassembled illegal connections.
“We are willing to go to any length for a peaceful Niger Delta,” Badaru said, imploring the offenders to “cease and desist from crude oil theft and economic sabotage.”
Source: Dailypost.ng
