A group under the aegis of Ijaw Youths Network (IYN), has said that oil thieves are now desperate to regain lost ground.
The group in a statement jointly signed by its National Coordinator, Frank Ebikabo and Secretary, Federal Ebiaridor, observed that it is indeed alarming, though expected, that those behind the criminal theft of the nation’s resources are deploying their massive intelligence, weight and resources to stifle the fight against oil theft.
This is as it described the conflict in the statement made by the Nigerian Navy on the arrest of the rogue vessel MT Praisel and the arrest of five Tantita operatives for purported oil theft and the rush to the media to discredit the firm as confusing, unhealthy, and suspicious.
IYN, said, that what the nation needed at this critical phase was a total onslaught against oil theft and not a show of division among the organisations that are fighting the scourge.
The group, however, called on the Federal Government and all Nigerians to give the requisite support to the ongoing campaign against oil theft being waged by relevant security services, alongside Tantita Security Services Limited.
Mr. Ebikabo, the National Coordinator, called on the leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited and the security agencies to ensure that ongoing efforts to curtail the massive theft of Nigeria’s oil resources are not sabotaged by people in strategic positions.
The IYN, however, expressed deep worry over the arrest of operatives of Tantita Security Services Limited by the Navy in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos, for alleged oil theft a few days ago.
The group said that it should be of concern to the government and the citizens of Nigeria and all those who mean well for the country that suspects of oil theft were allegedly shielded from arrest while those carrying out their legitimate duty of arresting them were picked up.
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The statement noted that the Federal Government and the NNPC which, took the commendable step to engage the private security outfits to fight the unprecedented theft of the nation’s crude resources in August 2022, should be firm against the surreptitious move to discredit the ongoing efforts.
The group also urged Nigerians not to forget in a hurry the terrifying facts about the daily theft of 200,000 barrels of crude oil by the rampaging oil thieves amounting to the loss of over 120 million barrels of crude oil from January and September 2022 translating to $12.6 billion in less than a year.
The statement further recalled the frank statement credited to the Group Managing Director of the NNPC that the engagement of the private security firms to secure the nation’s pipelines had achieved tremendous results with the increase in the daily oil production from 900 barrels per day to between 1.4 and 1.5 million barrels.
It nonetheless cautioned against public display of rancour between those entrusted with the responsibility of coordinating concerted action against the syndicates of oil thieves, describing the current situation as curious.
The group also joined other stakeholders in calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the operatives of TSL in the custody of the Navy.
The group said: “We have watched with dismay the conflicting reports of arrests of oil thieves between the Nigerian Navy and Tantita Security Services Limited.
We are indeed disturbed because these two critical stakeholders are supposed to put concerted efforts in the search for, and arrest of those perpetrating the criminal theft of the nation’s oil resources and the unconscionable sabotage of the nation’s economy. Recurrent indicators of seeming infighting among those entrusted with the responsibility of curtailing the massive theft of the nation’s oil resources seem to give the ominous sign that oil theft and its backers are fighting back”.
The group called on the President and indeed the NNPCL to be firm in sustaining the tempo of the ongoing campaign against oil theft.
