By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Army has announced that it clamped down on illegal oil camps in Imo and Delta States this week.
The army spokesperson, Mr Onyema Nwachukwu, disclosed this in a statement signed on Wednesday.
He stated that in Imo state, the army apprehended suspected crude oil thieves in Obokofia, a community in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State, South-east Nigeria.
Mr Nwachukwu, a brigadier-general, said the operation was carried out by troops of the 33 Artillery Regiment on Monday as part of their anti-oil theft operations in the country.
“In the crackdown, the vigilante troops intercepted 15 sacks and 13 jerry cans of illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) concealed in the camp,” he said.
Two pumping machines, three power generators, a hose, and a toolbox used for hacking into oil pipelines were the items recovered from the suspects, according to the army.
The army spokesperson said, in response to a tip-off on Tuesday, troops intercepted a wooden boat loaded with 110 sacks of illegally refined AGO concealed in the creeks of Egbema West in the same Ohaji/Egbema Council Area.
“The vigilant troops equally intercepted two vehicles loaded with 18 sacks of illegally refined AGO within the same council area,” he said.
In a similar operation on Monday, troops of 3 Battalion clamped down on an “active illegal refining site” in Enokora, a community in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, South-south Nigeria.
The army spokesperson said the refining site contained three cooking ovens and reservoirs.
He enjoined Nigerians to report to security agencies any suspected act of sabotage or criminality to enhance ongoing operations to curb oil theft in the country.
Oil theft and its negative impact on the country’s economy have been a source of concern to the Nigerian government over the years.
According to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the oil sector contributed only 5.34 per cent to the country’s real GDP in Q2 2023 in the second quarter of the year.
This is as Nigeria’s GDP grew by 2.51 per cent. Oil production in the review period dropped to 1.22 million barrels per day, lower than the daily average production of 1.43 million barrels recorded in the same quarter of 2022 and less than the first quarter of 2023 production volume of 1.51 million barrels per day.
The Federal government in August 2022 awarded a pipeline surveillance contract reportedly worth N48 billion per year (N4 billion per month) to Mr Government Ekpemupolo, who is popularly known as Tompolo, to check massive oil theft in the region.
Even as there is evidence of the progress of the outfit as well as that of other Nigerian troops in the fight against oil theft, activities of illegal bunkering still continue to plague the nation.
