The effect and cost of illegal bunkering in the Niger Delta, from the loss of revenue to ecological devastation, have led to national concern. As part of the efforts to find solution to the problem, the Delta State government organised an Oil and Gas Conference. SHOLA O’NEIL, who covered the ceremony, reported that stakeholders indicted the military, oil multinationals and community leaders in the Niger Delta.
The Delta State Commissioner for Oil and Gas, Mr Mofe Pirah, in his welcome address at the 2nd Edition of the state oil and gas conference, said the forum was aimed at bringing together relevant stakeholders to exchange ideas on the best practices locally and globally on how to secure and protect the huge investments in the oil and gas industry in the state.
Pirah said it “will focus on how we can collectively curb crude oil theft, especially within our environment, prepare and address the minds of our esteemed host communities on environment impact of pollution and its attendant long term effects, including the need to domicile surveillance contract in the various oil and gas communities in the state.”
Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, who moderated one of the sessions, advised speakers from the oil and gas industry, security operatives and host community leaders to be forthright and outspoken, assuring, “Whatever is said here will not be used against anybody.”
Chief Ayirimi Emami, an Itsekiri youth leader and Chairman of the Chevron Nigeria Limited-sponsored Itsekiri Regional Development Committee (IRDC), fired a damning salvo on those behind the illegal trade. His first shot was aimed at the Nigerian Navy, represented by the Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Ilesanmi Alabi, and other members of the Armed Forces, who he accused of cuddling the criminals.
Clarifying his stance, he said: “When I say the security agencies are involved, it is very simple: Delta State, for instance, has three exit/entry points (into the high sea). They are at Escravos, Forcados and Ogheye (in Warri South West, Burutu and Warri North local government areas ). There is no way a vessel can enter or leave without the military seeing them.”
Supporting the declaration Uduaghan said whenever he travelled through the waterways of the state – particularly the Warri and Burutu axis – he met one military checkpoint or the other on most junctions.
He said in all the instances, his and other boats in his entourage were stopped and subjected to military check. He wondered how larger vessels, tugboats and other paraphernalia of the illicit enter and leave the waters without being detected and arrested by the security operatives, who are deployed to the rivers principal to stop rogue vessels.
“Ayiri made a point about Delta having just three exit points in Delta State. Bayelsa is more difficult to deal with because they have up to 35 points; there are just three in Delta and there are military checkpoints at every junction. They stopped my boat; if my boat can be stopped, why are other boats not being stopped?”
Speaking in the same vein, Mr Joel Bisina of the Leadership Initiative for Transformation and Empowerment (LITE Africa), also queried the suffocating presence of military men around oil facilities if they are not able to secure pipelines and flow stations.
In a brief, eloquent presentation that was punctuated with rhetorical questions and quips, Bisina raised posers that not only supported alleged involvement of the lower ranks of the military, but also hinted at the complicity of their high ranking officers.
For instance, he said: “How does the high end security network around oil facilities fail to provide security to the primary objective (of their deployment)? To what extent is security (apparatus) providing security?
“There are (allegation that) some members of the JTF levy illegal bunkerers on a cargo-by-cargo basis. How many of the JTF operators have been arrested and tried for involvement?”
Oil firms in bunkering
Ironical, it was the FOC West, Rear Admiral Alade, who flagged-off the game of finger-pointing when he slammed International Oil Companies (IOCs) and their Nigerian counterparts for aiding the illicit deals.
Speaking on the topic, “Security Oil and Gas Investments: The Role of The Nigerian Armed Forces’, he said:
“Oil companies cannot claim ignorance (about oil theft)… Oil thefts are mostly perpetrated at the loading point.”
The navy top brass’ assertion was somewhat buttressed by a revelation in the presentation by Mr Mutiu Sunmonu, Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Country Chair of Shell Companies in Nigeria, who disclosed a brazen sabotage of the company’s export line by suspected illegal bunkerers.
“We discovered that a line was welded to our Forcados Terminal export line where export quality crude oil was being stolen. Such an underwater operation does not come easy to us in the industry, but some criminals were able to install a theft point without detection. Investigations are on-going to understand how this was done. So, who is behind these activities? Unfortunately, SPDC as a corporate organisation is unable to say categorically those behind these crimes.”
If the SPDC MD was puzzled by the daring operation on the line, other stakeholders at the ceremony offered answers: they urged him and captains of the oil and gas industry to look inward. LITE-Africa’s Bisina hinted that the technical expertise used in such operation as described by Sunmonu could only come from the oil industry and within the oil multinationals.
Austin Igbuku, who represented Sunmonu, differed. He said none of the company’s staff are involved in the illicit, while also conceding that SHELL could not vouch for indirect workers – 10,000 to 15,000 employed by its contractors.
But Uduaghan and other guests were not impressed. The governor insisted that oil companies operating in the region could not dodge culpability, even if those found wanting are their indirect staff. He advised internal audit to fish out the bad eggs.
Communities are also involved Emami, a factional leader of the oil-rich Ugborodo Community in Warri South West Local Government Area, was one of the first to concede the involvement of community members and leaders. He said the situation was not helped by the oppressive underdevelopment of oil bearing communities.
He said, “Poverty is the origin of oil theft; they (community members) are all suffering. So, everybody is involved actively or passively. Those involved actively are those who break pipeline and steal the oil, while their passive participators are those who do not get involved but are guilty by association and refusal to offer information to security agents because they are benefiting one way or the other.”
Speaking in the same vein, Jude Ukori, Secretary of the Egbema Gbaramatuu Central Development Committee (EGCDC), the IRDC’s counterpart, said, “Those involved in illegal bunkering are not ghost. But some of them are so poor that they have no alternative to survive while others are just greedy.”
While not justifying the acts, the two community leaders urged governments at all level and the oil multinationals to do more for the communities. They said the damages from oil exploration and production have left the communities without viable means of livelihood and deprived of commensurate benefit from the oil windfalls.
Ukori said, “Now we are being told of loses from illegal bunkering; when there was no lose where we made to feel the impact? There should be deliberate programme for oil communities not the prevailing situation where bridges are built where they are not needed while in the riverine areas where they are needed none is built.”
How it is done
Explaining the various levels of the corruption, the SPDC MD said the first level involves those engaged in the theft of crude oil, which is inefficiently refined for supply to local markets. Sunmonu said this aspect of the crime is encouraged by inadequate supply of petroleum products through the legitimate channel and peoples desperateness for fuel used for various purposes.
“At the other level is the larger scale, more organised operation for international export, which we know reaches far across the globe. The latter has fast become a parallel industry with a developed supply chain and growing sophistication.
“The operations at both levels involve trained engineers who weld valves to high pressure pipelines, allowing the criminals to return at night to siphon crude oil. Boat yards help to construct and supply barges to the thieves to transport crude oil around the creeks,” he said.
How to tackle illegal bunkering
Government officials, community leaders, oil industry operators and all stakeholders at the conference were unanimous that the scourge of illegal bunkering needs to be purged out from the region. One industry operator at the conference told our reporter that the effects would linger for decades.
“Even if we successfully stop illegal bunkering today, the effect will take at least 20 to 30 years to clear. That is when the soil, water and flora and fauna can return to normal. It is a big damage that they are doing to the environment.”
For Bisina, the damage is not done by the criminals alone. He expressed concern over the means of destroying arrest barges, petroleum tanker trucks and other support items of the trade.
This concern, which was also raised by Mr. Sheriff Mulade of the Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) in a private interview with our reporter, followed the huge emission from the burning of crude oil and destruction of barges in the creeks and waterways.
Rear Admiral Alade also called for a critical look at the role of the judiciary and those tasked with prosecution of the criminals. He said the navy does not have the power to prosecute, adding that its job is merely to arrest and investigate.
He lamented that after carrying out its duty faithfully the prosecutions are not done satisfactorily. His position, supported by other participants, questioned the sincerity of those tasked with trying those cases as well as the judge to whom they are assigned.
On the need to develop the oil bearing communities, Uduaghan told the audience that the communities must be ready to be developed. He said community leaders and their youths make outrageous demands on contractors sent to execute developmental projects through exorbitant wage demand or other patronages.
The governor also noted that efforts to empower community youths through pipeline surveillance contracts and jobs have also backfired as those employed have been found to be aiding involved directly or aided and abetted illegal bunkerers.
For his part, Sunmonu suggested: “Concerted action is urgently needed at the local, national, regional and international levels to address the menace of crude oil theft. Requirements include improved intelligence gathering, stronger policing and the prosecution of suspected criminals.
“There is now an understanding within the industry and government that the scale and complexity of the problem is beyond the control of any one company, governor, committee or even country. The next step is to galvanise coordinated action. Conferences like this are an important part of that,” he stated.
He urged the Federal Government to seek international collaboration to track stolen crude as is being done with gold and other precious stones gotten from war-ravaged countries.
Sunmonu disclosed that SPDC and its Joint Venture partners are continually looking for new ways to make it more difficult for thieves to hijack its pipelines and steal crude oil. To this end, he disclosed that pipelines are being buried deeper beneath earth surface and such pipelines are sometimes covered with concrete to deter criminals.
Attendees and speakers also agreed that the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and conferring ownership rights on communities would give them sense of belonging and stake to help in policing and protecting the facilities.
