Enforce laws to curb crude oil theft, TUC urges FG

By Joy Obakeye

President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Festus Osifo has called on the federal government to implement stiffer penalties to punish culprits involved in crude oil theft.

Speaking during a media briefing in Lagos, the TUC President noted that this will serve as deterrent to others who are intending to engage in the act and restore sanity to the sector.

He also highlighted the importance of using drone technology to carry out pipeline surveillance, instead of employing security personnel who can be compromised.

According to him, “you can have a multi-layer and a sophisticated control room where you monitor these activities, and you can respond swiftly, if there is a suspicious activity.”

He stressed that the excess crude account has depleted to almost zero, “apart from the initial seed fund of $1 billion, I am not sure it has been funded in the last 10years.”

He called on the federal government to wake up to its responsibilities, adding that governance is about repositioning the economy for growth and ensuring that citizens enjoy the dividends of democracy.

Speaking further, he disclosed that affiliates of TUC and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) are planning to hold sensitization across the six geopolitical zones from September 7-8, noting that it is a push that came from TUC as well, “because we felt that it is fundamentally wrong for the crude oil theft to continue.”

“I listened to the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) recently stated that there is a total collusion. The collusion is total, both from the community, those outside the communities, both from stakeholders in the oil and gas sector, the security personnel sent to man the pipelines. I can tell you that a lot of security personnel are paid handsomely well outside their salaries to protect the pipelines. The Naval and Army officers are paid well on a daily basis to protect these pipelines. But they collect these monies and collude with those in the community to also steal this crude oil. So, it is a fundamental problem.

“So, the challenge today is that a lot of companies that are operating in the Niger-Delta, they are shutting down their production because some of them will pump in 50,000 barrels and at the end of the day, they will get like 2000 or 3000 barrels, so it is better they shut down, than recording losses. So that is why when it is reported that about 400,000 barrels are lost.

It is not actually because the entire barrels are stolen, but because most of the companies have decided to shut down their operations in those large areas.

“So, it is a fundamental problem. We should stop talking now. We should start acting. Those whose responsibility it is to solve the problem should go to the field and use technology to solve the problem.

It is not about coming to the media to start making inciteful statements. Those are not really necessary. Because the problem we have had is you have the Chief of Army Staff sitting somewhere in Abuja and giving press statements.

But what are the mercenaries he has put in place to ensure that those junior officers that are posted to the Creeks in Niger Delta are actually doing the work they are posted there to do? Those are the things they should be telling us. And those are the things we want to hear.”