Peter Akpatason, the House of Representatives Deputy Majority Leader, has called on the federal government to employ all of its legal and security resources to combat oil theft and pipeline vandalism, warning that their actions are wreaking havoc on the country’s economy.
Former President of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, Akpatason bemoaned the fact that the government appears to be unconcerned about oil theft and pipeline damage.
“Oil theft, not simply pipeline vandalism,” he says, “is a major problem for the country.” Oil theft is a miniature of vandalism.
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Oil is lost in a variety of ways, not simply through vandalism.
We lose oil as a result of deliberate accounting manipulation, in which the final record differs from what is produced and exported.
This is the most significant source of crude loss, and it is wreaking havoc on the country’s economy.”
“We are not honest about securing our pipes because it is potential to decrease vandalism,” he continued.
But, for the time being, I don’t think it’s that serious because the pipeline routes are well-defined. Security agencies are aware of all of them.
Drones are occasionally obtained so that they may monitor routes and predict where vandalism is likely to occur.
“When you notice weird movements around pipelines, you know something bad is about to happen and you can stop it.”
Regrettably, that is not the case at the present time.
They frequently allow it to develop and then rush around trying to put out the fires rather than proactively targeting the problem to prevent it.”
