The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Timipre Sylva, on Monday disclosed that Nigeria loses 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily to theft.
Sylva disclosed this when he, in company of the Chief Executive Officer, NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari, and the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, paid a courtesy visit on Gov. Hope Uzodimma at the Government House, Owerri.
Describing the development as “national emergency,” Silva lamented that the nation had fallen short of OPEC quota per day from the 1.8 million barrels to 1.4 million barrels as a result of crude theft.
He warned that, if not given the seriousness it deserves, such huge economic loss was capable of crippling the economy of the country.
He said despite the Federal and State Governments’ efforts to arrests perpetrators, he said that the the problem remained persistent.
Sylva said: “The problem of crude oil theft has reached a level of national emergency” and the situation cannot be handled in Abuja alone.
“It is a national emergency because the theft has grown wings and has reached a very bad crescendo.
“This is because the thefts are taking place in the communities that host the oil pipelines and as a result; it has become necessary to involve the stakeholders, especially the host communities.
“And because of the height and the orchestrated nature of oil theft, Nigeria could not take the advantage and opportunities that abound in the gas production because no investor would want to invest where there is incessant insecurity and vandalism of the infrastructure,” he added.
He therefore, solicited the need for stakeholders to come together and collaborate to solve the problem.
Sylva commended the governor for putting a lot of efforts to ensure that Imo was safe and the economy was not closed down.
Also speaking, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, commended the Uzodimma for his efforts in supporting the Armed Forces towards contending the escalated actions against all criminality along the oil producing areas in South East.
Irabor called on the State Government, the Stakeholders and the communities to “be involved in the fight against oil theft to a reasonable percentage and leave the rest for the Armed Forces.”
He assured the governor that the Armed Forces were always available to receive further support to fight banditry and all other forms of criminality in the state and Nigeria at large.
Responding, Gov. Hope Uzodimma assured his guests that his administration would continue in the effort to stem the economic sabotage perpetrated by the pipeline vandals.
Uzodimma, who described the consequences of crude oil theft as ‘’very alarming and too much to be tolerated,” pledged to sustain the working synergy among the stakeholders concerned.
He noted that the problem has not only led to the drop in earnings for the government but has also created environmental pollution and other health hazards.
The governor harped on the need for cooperation among the Federal and State Governments, NNPC and stakeholders of the oil communities to effectively curb the sabotage.
He also commended NNPC for the 200 bed hospital the company was building at the Imo State University Teaching Hospital (IMSUT), Orlu and prayed them to speed up the project with the target of inaugurating it soonest.
The meeting was part of industrial wide intervention to curb crude oil theft in Nigeria.
