FG ASKS UK, OTHERS TO STOP BUYING CRUDE OIL STOLEN FROM NIGERIA

THE Federal Government has urged the United Kingdom and other countries to help Nigeria curtail the growing incidence of crude oil theft in the country by rejecting stolen Nigerian crude destined for their refineries, calling such crude “oil crude.”
Speaking at the Chatham House in London on Thursday on ‘Nigerian Defence Priorities: Domestic Stability for Regional Security’, the Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada likened Nigerian stolen crude to the Liberian and Sierra Leonean blood diamond, and demanded the confiscation of assets and property of foreign vessel owners and businessmen involved in such illicit transactions.
She said crude oil theft constitutes a serious threat to Nigeria domestic economic stability and revenue projections, saying that most of the vessels involved in crude oil theft and illegal oil bunkering are often owned by foreigners and foreign entities.
The minister expressed Nigeria’s position that countries that receive such stolen crude encourage the crime, as there would be no market for the oil thieves if some countries’ refineries would patronise only crude obtained legitimately.
She said that on the part of Nigeria, the Joint Task Force and the Nigerian Navy would continue to crack down on oil thieves and their collaborators through arrests, prosecution and destruction of illegal refineries.
On terrorism, Erelu Obada said it was in response to the threats posed by terrorists that government declared a state of emergency in three north-eastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, adding that in view of multilateral relations that Nigeria enjoys with its neighbours, there would be no safe haven for Boko Haram and their apologists.
She said,“The Armed Forces and other security agencies are currently engaged in multi-agency counter-terrorism operations in the three states mentioned, with a view to bringing the security situation under control.
“The threats confronting Nigeria can be summarised as internal and external. Some internal threats include fragilities, illegal trafficking, piracy, unreported and unregulated fishing, Islamic fundamentalism, oil theft, pipeline vandalism as well as terrorism. Worthy of note is the reality that many of the crimes and illegalities are often trans-national in nature.”
The minister said the Nigerian president had deployed a long-term strategy meant to reduce opportunities for religions radicalism. “An important component of this strategy is the establishment of 400 schools for Almajiris, which provide Quaranic studies with English, Mathematics and Science etc.
“State governments and the national leadership of the Moslem Ummah in Nigeria are working hard to reduce radicalism. On the economic front, our government is improving support to the agriculture and mining sectors to diversify the economy, as well as the rehabilitation of the railways, amongst other transformation programmes, to provide employment opportunities to the teeming youth population in Nigeria.”
Source: Tribune