By Atoyebi Nike
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.), Bashir Ojulari, has warned that crude oil theft across Africa is being driven by specialised international and continental criminal gangs exploiting gaps in security systems.
Speaking on Monday at the opening of the Africa Chiefs of Defence Staff Conference in Abuja, Ojulari said oil theft is not a purely localised crime but a sophisticated operation that demands cross-border collaboration to combat effectively.
“Crude theft and its attendant illegal activities are by no means a purely localised occurrence; rather, these operations involve specialised international syndicates that take advantage of gaps within the state, national and continental security architecture,” he stated.
He acknowledged that crude theft and pipeline vandalism remain challenges in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta, but credited security agencies with making significant progress in curbing the menace.
“Security forms a key pillar of the energy business and therefore plays a very important and strategic role in achieving national, regional and continental energy security goals,” Ojulari said. He added that collaboration across the energy sector has already improved the NNPC’s operating environment.
