Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on Friday, described oil thieves as Nigeria’s worst enemies.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that Lawan said this at the presentation of the 2023 budget by President Muhammadu Buhari at the National Assembly in Abuja.
According to him, Nigeria now loses between 700,000 and 900,000 oil barrels daily, which translates to a 35% loss in oil revenue.
“The oil theft in the country has taken a monumental dimension. Nigeria now loses between 700,000 and 900,000 barrels per day, which has translated to 35% loss in oil revenue.
“The oil thieves are worst enemies of the country and have declared war against the country. So, drastic action must be taken to tame the activities of the thieves,” Lawan said.
Recently, officials in Nigeria discovered an illegal connection of a crude oil pipeline from one of its major oil export terminals into the sea that had been operating undetected for nine years.
The 4-kilometre pipeline, which typically exports around 250,000 barrels of oil per day, was found during a clamp-down on oil theft in the past six weeks.
Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, has long grappled with thieves who often tap land-based pipelines to siphon oil. However, an illegal ocean pipeline is highly unusual and suggests a more sophisticated theft operation.
