Posted by Sola Adebayo, Warri on
Fifty ocean-going vessels, worth several billions of naira, were impounded from oil bunkerers by security agents in the Niger Delta region between January and April 2005, the Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Rowland Oritsejafor, has said.
Fifty ocean-going vessels, worth several billions of naira, were impounded from oil bunkerers by security agents in the Niger Delta region between January and April 2005, the Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Rowland Oritsejafor, has said.
This disclosure shows the high activities of the oil thieves in the oil producing parts of the country, through which Nigeria is said to be losing an estimated 500,000 barrels of oil per day.
Oritsejafor, in an exclusive interview with our correspondent in Warri, on Monday, explained that the recent deployment of a warship, NNS Obula, in the region by the Federal Government, was meant to protect the nation's economic interests in the area.
He said, 'Taking our constraints into consideration, our men are doing very well. Many vessels were arrested. About 50 vessels have been arrested since the beginning of this year.
'If we have more of our ships and boats in this area, we will be able to do the job better and protect our economy. You will observe that recently a lot of ships are being arrested for illegal bunkering, because the big ships are being repaired and brought back. The equipment in our arsenal is improving.
'We have helicopters now, we have ships coming up and I think it is in the interest of the economy to have ships being deployed to protect the economy," he said.
The minister, however, did not disclose where the ships were being held or whether the bunkerers were arrested.
NNS Obula, commanded by Navy Capt. Johnson Olutoyin, arrived NNS Delta, Warri Naval Base on Sunday, April 17.
Oritsejafor commended the security agencies in the region, especially NNS Delta, Warri Naval Base, commanded by Navy Capt. Jacob Ajani, for achieving the feat and said there was nothing unusual about the deployment of the ship in the area.
He said the action was in line with the constitutional responsibility of Nigerian Navy to protect the economic assets of the country.
He said NNS Obula was deployed to compliment the existing security networks in the region to bring oil theft to zero level.
He also spoke of the Federal Government's planned gradual withdrawal of troops of the Joint Task Force, code-named Operation Restore Hope, from the region.
He said JTF as an intervention outfit could not be in the region forever.
Continuing, the minister recalled that JTF was set up following threat to security in the region, adding, 'Since they (JTF) came in, things have gone better, at the point of their disengagement, that is a strategic decision, but certainly, you will agree with me that their presence is getting less and less. So, there is a tactical and gradual withdrawal based on internal information and analysis."
Oritsejafor, however, lamented that enough had not been done in the task of recovering illegal arms in circulation in the region.
To this end, he urged members of the public to assist the security agencies with relevant information about those in possession of prohibited arms and their armouries.
Nigeria late last year bought 15 new patrol boats from US to help Africa's top oil producer crack down a rampant theft of crude oil from its coastal fields.
The boats analysts said where meant to enhance naval patrol in the Gulf of Guinea, where billions of barrels of new oil reserves have been discovered over the past 10 years.
The Punch, Thursday May 12, 2005