The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, Limited, Melee Kyari, on Tuesday, stated that there are some illegal petroleum products pipelines connected to Churches and Mosques.
According to Kyari, the discovery led to the deliberate shutting down of pipelines in the country.
Another reason was the challenge of not operating as a business which has so far brought losses.
While lamenting the level of losses on the nation’s pipelines, he said the scandalous business of pipeline vandals cuts across different regions and religious organizations where the pipelines pass through.
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Some of the pipelines are illegally connected around Churches and Mosques, according to Kyari.
He revealed that the issue of crude oil theft is real and happening and the company has tried tackling it.
Kyari revealed that 295 illegal connections were discovered in one line, in less than 200 meters, and that the company with the help of the security agencies and the directive of the Chief of Defence Staff.
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So far, 30 Speed Boats, 179 Wooden Boats, and 37 trucks have been seized, but the authorities have taken the decision not to arrest any longer but to burn such confiscated products.
Furthermore, he asserted that 122 persons including highly placed individuals were arrested between April and August, noting that some of them have been handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Moreso, 739 ovens for the illegal crude oil theft have been discovered and some destroyed, 344 reservoirs created and 355 cooking pots also discovered, stressing that the level of the illegal business was enormous.
“It simply means the destruction of the environment. We have lost revenue,” he said.
The MD explained this while speaking at the ministerial briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team at the State House.
Kyari noted that the authorities of the NNPC borrowed one billion US dollars from the AFREXIM Bank to restore some refineries.
He added that the management of the company was confident that it was restoring the company to about 90 per cent efficiency.
He further noted that the repayment of the borrowed money was linked to the productivity of the refineries and that NNPC would deliver on the rehabilitation exercise.
Also, he assured Nigerians that there would not be any importation of petroleum products by the middle of next year, 2023.
Kyari maintained that the NNPC management was building the National Reserve Company.
