‘Nigeria loses N433.62bn to oil theft yearly’

‘Nigeria loses N433.62bn to oil theft yearly’

Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin
The Nigerian Navy has said that the country is losing about 100, 000 barrel of
crude oil estimated at N1.18bn everyday to oil thieves who take the advantage of
poor law enforcement on the nation’s territorial waters.
The Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin, who stated this in his
presentation while defending the 2015 budget of the Navy before the Senate
Committee on Defence (Navy) on Tuesday, said the development was making
Nigeria to lose N433.62bn annually.
Jibrin, who was represented by the Chief of Logistics, Rear Admiral Peter Agba,
attributed the source of his information to Chatham House recent disclosure.
The disclosure, however, contradicted the Ministry of Finance figure of 400,000
barrel loses per day and the fact the President Goodluck Jonathan administration
had awarded multi- billion dollar contracts to some private security outfits in the
Niger Delta to secure the nation’s waterways.
The Naval chief lamented that the military institution submitted N205.4bn as
capital budget for 2015 but that the Federal Ministry of Finance reduced it to
N8bn – 90 per cent reduction of its original budget proposal.
He said, “The proposed capital projects for 2015 (captured in the initial
N205.4bn), include the ongoing acquisition of two OPVs, acquisition of patrol
crafts and helicopters, procurement of arms and development of vital support
infrastructure.
“The equipment are needed to improve naval operations and the welfare of
personnel.”
Jibrin, however, said despite the substantial reduction in the Navy appropriation in
2014, it was able to arrest 84 vessels, and 155 suspected oil thieves.
He also said naval personnel had also destroyed 120 illegal oil refineries, 29
barges, 93 boats and 1, 259 auxiliary equipment and tools used by the oil thieves.
The development, he added, “deterred criminal activities in the water ways and
helped in no small measure in providing the enabling environment for the
continued exploration and exploitation of the nation’s oil and gas resources.”
The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Chris Anyanwu, commended the navy
for its efforts at checking criminal activities on the nation’s territorial waters.