Why we’re up against oil bunkering this time – JTF spokesman
The once hidden crime–illegal bunkering which is now threatening a major fiscal crisis in the nation seems to leave the impression of security lapses? I appreciate that you acknowledge the fact that illegal bunkering has been there over ages but clandestine. Hence the menace does not actually point to security lapses. Rather as you have […]
The once hidden crime–illegal bunkering which is now threatening a major fiscal crisis in the nation seems to leave the impression of security lapses?
I appreciate that you acknowledge the fact that illegal bunkering has been there over ages but clandestine. Hence the menace does not actually point to security lapses. Rather as you have rightly pointed out, illegal bunkering has been with us for ages mainly perpetrated by the high and mighty with foreign connivance. Attempts have been made in the past by government to tackle high syndicated foreign illegal oil bunkerers who connive with our people to steal oil. The recent furore about oil theft is certainly because a new dimension has been given to it, which is the massive involvement of locals who rupture the pipes in the hinterland and cook the crude to derive indiscernible product with which genuine products are adulterated. Amazingly, a number of highly placed personages in our society are agitating for the legitimization of this illegitimate glorified oil cooking spots. At this pedestal of illegal bunkering, the increased wave to my mind is attributable to a tendency to strive to overcome poverty. But again, that is not a waiver for crime. That is why we will not spare anyone, no matter how highly placed or lowly.
I also think that it will be more comprehensible when the oil firms report shut- in- production or deferred production rather than the huge theft they report.
As for JTF we are not at our wit end in combating this national economic challenge as we are relentless in our robustly aggressive waterways and land patrols. If other stakeholders put in their best, this looming crisis as you have described it will be aborted and the situation reverted for good.
But, there are allegations that JTF collaborates with illegal bunkerers by giving them cover to perpetrate their crimes. How true is this?
This is absolutely untrue. And I have a feeling that this is a campaign of calumny by those who are affected by our operational exploits. While it may be pretty difficult to vouch for individuals in absolute terms of their integrity, if there is a concerted effort as alleged that the JTF provides cover for criminals, then the numerous arrests we have made would not have been possible.
Rather than making blanket insinuations and accusations, we encourage individuals to make report formally to the JTF high command and if any operative is found wanting, he will not be spared. These allegations are obviously from detractors or mischief makers who are outraged by our operations and want to call the dog a bad name in order to kill it. After all if the watchdog is out of the way they will be undeterred.
How then do you react to the recent accusation from NNPC’s spokesman that the JTF is playing politics with its mandate being a response to counter Brig-General Tukur Yusuf Buratai’s claim of the company’s complicity with oil thieves?
JTF doesn’t have to play politics with the security of Nigeria’s economy. The enormous responsibility of JTF is to safeguard the oil companies which is the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy from total collapse. It is totally disloyal on our part to do such a thing and it is grossly untrue for somebody to allege that JTF is playing politics with something as enormous as that. From our pedigree, if we are playing politics, we won’t destroy those vessels that were intercepted, if we are playing politics we won’t make any arrest as it is our mandate and we are carrying it out. We have suspects which the commander of 2 Brigade himself, Brig-Gen. Buratai arrested. 26 international illegal bunkerers, the media was a witness and it was brought to the public glare. If we are playing politics, why did we destroy the vessel at Akassa which was deep in the creeks with 600,000 litres of AGO.
But, the NNPC’s man had challenged JTF to make public its arrest…
(cuts in…) Unfortunately, the man in question Levi Ajuonuma died in the plane crash yesterday (last Sunday), May his soul rest in peace. I had personally gone to Akassa with 10 media organizations who interrogated the arrested suspects and we brought them to Yenagoa. The following day, we kept some of them at the SSS cell because we don’t have facility to keep such persons. They were there until we moved them to Civil Defence custody in Port Harcourt. If anybody is in doubt or wants to find out, they should go there, the figure speaks for itself there.
How much successes have you recorded so far?
Our success have been quite tremendous going by the fact that recently when I addressed the media, I enumerated a number of vessels and barges that were intercepted. Of course, as you are already aware, we have the mandate to destroy any vessel engaged in illegal bunkering and refineries. Recently, two large vessels of about 650,000 metric tons capacity were arrested along the Suberi river with 26 international illegal bunkerers on board mainly Ghanians and five of them Nigerians. Few days ago, another large vessel was again intercepted deep in the creeks of Akassa with 600,000 litres of Automatic Gas Oil (AGO) and it was destroyed immediately. During interrogation, the captain of the ship told us that he was mandated to load 100,000 litres of AGO, he showed us a paper which we could not ascertain the authenticity. He also confessed that his boss (name withheld) directed him to the creeks to load the AGO but he deviated from the authentic loading point in Brass to load an additional 500,000 litres in Akassa. This feat is beside the 218 illegal refineries which we have destroyed within one month alongside 151,000 surface tankers, wooden boats and oil dumps. We also discovered 27 barges on land as well as some 37 instruments used to rupture pipelines. We intercepted and destroyed generators, wielding machines with which they construct their cooking pots for cooking crude in the mangrove.
From the point of advocacy, recently, when we intercepted illegal bunkerers at Otuogiri in Ogbia local government area of Bayelsa State, we discovered that the entire community was buried in illegal refined products. We had several tankers both steel and plastic all over the village even in the residence of the paramount ruler of that community. We could not instantly carry out our mandate to destroy them there because the entire community would be engulfed in fire because we also caught a tanker there loading between 33,000 and 36,000 capacity of AGO from the surface tanks. What we did was to take the tanker to a safer location and destroy same after discharging the content. Thereafter, the community leader and others were invited to the JTF headquarters in Yenagoa for a chat. The leaders admitted to failure on their part to have reported cases of bunkering in their area and promised henceforth to be with us. We gave them 48-hour to destroy the products in the community and when we went back the following day, we found out that they did just that.
They had even gone a step further to apprehend the man behind the illegal refinery, they alleged that he had always come in with security aides which I believe were imposters, definitely, not genuine security operatives. They made efforts to arrest him but he escaped and they impounded his car which is right here in our headquarters for further investigation. At the moment, we have plans to move into the hinterland to partner with the Southern Ijaw local government area, we will talk to them about the inherent dangers of conniving with criminals.