President Bola Tinubu has been advised by a retired Navy admiral to blow up vessels with stolen crude oil along with their crew members.
“Direct the military to blow up any ship used in stealing our crude oil, sink the ship with its crew, do so two or three times, and see if crude oil theft will not be a thing of the past in Nigeria,” he said.
According to the Admiral, his suggestion was backed by his knowledge of the impunity with which the crude oil thieves operate because many top Nigerians are involved in the illicit business.
He noted that any government without the strong political will to stop the menace of crude oil theft would end up merely mouthing their intention without achieving tangible results, as had always been the case with past governments.
He also revealed that top politicians, key government agencies, and security agents were also involved in the illegal business of crude oil theft.
Recently, the Senate disclosed that the country had lost N2.3 trillion to the menace of crude oil theft in 2023 alone.
Describing crude oil as Nigeria’s blood, the Admital stated that the government must be able to declare war on anybody “who is sucking that oil because the result of such action would lead to our death, so we have to kill the person before he kills us.”
He indicted the judiciary, banks, some legislators, both serving and retired, Nigerian companies, and security agencies as culprits in the menace of crude oil theft in Nigeria.
“The government should be bold enough if it wants to stop this thing by declaring illegal oil bunkering activities a war against Nigeria and that all security agencies should attack that vessel with whatever resource they have on board.
“If I had my way, we should empower security agencies to attack and destroy any vessel. When I say vessel, I mean any floating object, any vessel that is capable of floating and being used for transportation of any contraband, any crude oil, or anything concerning our mineral resources. They should take it as an enemy vessel and sink it. They should attack it, including everybody inside; they should waste it all.
”By the time we do it two or three times, ships will stop coming into Nigeria to steal our oil, and all the people in the creek will stop working because there will be nobody to load from them because they cannot enter our waters again,” he said.
Security agencies, especially the Navy and oil companies, have been the most indicted for culpability.
However, the information from the retired security personnel indicted the judiciary for aiding and abetting perpetrators of crude oil theft.
He said, “Sometimes security agencies are disgraced along the line because if you arrest people who are stealing our oil, later you will see the same people walking freely and insulting you.
“At other times, they (the judiciary) would ask how you knew it was crude oil that was loaded in the vessel. They would conclude that it was oily water. What is oily water? It’s supposed to be like waste products, which is also very important because the waste product from petroleum can come back as either high-pour fuel oil or low-pour fuel oil (HPFO or LPFO) that can be used by heavy machinery like textile mills or cement factories.
“What these suspects do is identify the product as oily water, and then the ship will be paid to go and discharge this oily water to companies that need it.”
“I don’t need to mention companies that are into the production of cement in Nigeria. Some of them are even funding all these illegalities. I’m saying it with all seriousness because I was there; it’s not like it is hearsay.
“There were so many occasions we held meetings in the Navy that any person that deals illegally with our oil has declared war against Nigeria. Because oil is our own lifeline. We said any person who distorts whatever Nigeria is supposed to get from it has declared war on Nigeria.
“We said two things: we begged the government to authorize the Navy to have prosecuting power, but it was not granted. At present, the Navy does not have prosecuting power; it’s only the Police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Once you hand suspects over to these people, that’s the end of the matter.
Another resolution he made was to appeal to the government to declare that any oil smuggler, any person that is dealing illegally in Nigerian crude or whatever, has declared war on Nigeria and should be dealt with as an enemy.
“In that case, the Navy should be authorized to sink any ship because it’s a declaration of war against Nigeria. For you to bring your ship into Nigerian territorial waters and suck out our blood, you want Nigeria to die. So , you should be attacked; there should be no mercy. That one, too, was not granted.
“That is why the hands of the security agencies became weak because if they arrest suspects, the case will not go anywhere. That is why some of them resorted to saying, “Okay, boy, since we arrest and nothing happens, let me collect my own.”.
In his disclosure, some officials of NNPC (not NNPC as a company) were not spared either, as they were alleged to be conniving with perpetrators of crude oil theft.
He disclosed instances where ships with the capacity to carry two million barrels of crude oil would be given approval to load just ten percent of their capacity.
He said, “Sometimes, ships that have the capacity to carry two million barrels of crude are given approval by NNPC officials to come and load 200 thousand. So, 1.8 million barrels of vacancy will be on the ship? Is it sensible for you to rent a trailer from Lagos that can carry 600 bags of cement? You’ll now hire that trailer to go to Maiduguri to bring 20 bags of cement for you?. It means there is an ulterior motive.
“Some oil company people are the biggest culprits. On several occasions, vessels were arrested with containers of products. NNPC will tell you that there were no missing products. So, where did these people carry this thing from?
He also mentioned bankers as part of the cartel. The retired admiral said, “NNPC is there. But the worst are the bankers who connive with these so-called people who say they are importing fuel by issuing them fake forms. Normally, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) will authorize a vessel to bring in a certain quantity, but that vessel will not go anywhere.
“They will just collect product from NNPC and gallivant the whole waters, saying they want to discharge offshore Bonny. Then they will present the fake form M, which is evidence of payment.
“As for subsidies, they’ll tell you that a particular ship is bringing in a certain quantity of PMS, whereas it is not bringing anything. That ship will use the same form M, the same DPR approval, and the same NNPC authorization from Abuja. That same ship will just go, change color, change name, and come back about ten times.
“It is a very big problem for Nigeria; I don’t know how it will be solved. We’re just waiting for the day when the whole system will collapse. It has reached the point where you don’t even know who to hold accountable because everybody is involved. When I mean everybody, I mean from top to bottom.”
Speaking on the recent argument between the Nigerian Navy and officials of Tantita Security Services over the arrest of a 77-meter motor tanker with 17 crew members for crude oil theft, the retired admiral said he felt that it was a mistake “handing over such critical facilities to a private sector to protect.”
”In some countries, we have things like that so that the Navy and other agencies will have time to go and prosecute and defend their countries against external aggression.
“But in Nigeria, we have no reason to do that. Some of the private agencies have a bunch of criminals. As for the Navy people that are going there, I cannot absolve them of any illegality because instead of doing their job, some of them are part of the show. So, I cannot categorically say the Navy is innocent. No, we have some bad eggs there.
“But the private agencies have accomplices in all these. They know everything; they know what is going on. You need to see when they clash with other security agencies. This thing is clear. If the NNPC declares that it did not authorize the operation of any ship, any of the agencies can arrest that vessel, and it should not bring any trouble.
“The ships are owned by the big ogas, all of them from top to bottom, in the name of our senators, top Nigerians in and outside government, and the rest, are all part of the show.
“The way forward, as I stated earlier, is for the government to declare any person stealing our oil as an enemy of the state, and such an enemy should be attacked with full force.
“Nothing like arrest; they should sink the ship because that person has decided to kill Nigeria. Any person who sucks out our blood wants us to die because oil is the blood of Nigeria.
“I know that will be difficult for them to pronounce, just as it is very difficult for them to say that the Armed Forces should have prosecuting power against oil thieves. If two or three ships are attacked and forced to sink with their crew, crude oil theft will stop.
The news will go around the world, and those sending ships with the connivance of Nigerians will stop. Nobody wants to die,” the retired admiral said.
