Worried by the loss of about 400,000 barrels
per day, which translates to N7 billion per day, to oil theft, the
federal government has approved the establishment of a Legal Task Force
(LTF) to be headed by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of
the Federation (AGF), Mohammed Bello Adoke, to prosecute cases of oil
theft across the country.
The new taskforce is coinciding with the denial of oil workers that they were privy to the huge oil theft going on in the Niger Delta creeks.
Senior Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, had accused the IOCs of complicity in the ongoing crude oil theft in the country.
The LTF initiative was one of the outcomes of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo. Other issues discussed at the meeting were those of grazing reserves and Fulani/farmers clash, update of the report on 2012/2014 federal and state borrowing and almajiri education.
The LTF, according to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, who is also the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Oil Theft Proliferation and Control, has as members the representatives of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Armed Forces, Civil Defence, Police, the State Security Service (SSS) and others.
Pointing out that the establishment of the LTF, whose members would be announced on Monday by Adoke and which lifespan would span 12 months, is predicated upon the fact that in the past, arrests of oil thieves were made but many of them were not prosecuted.
He explained that the task force will look at ways of enforcing the extant laws that stipulate 21 years imprisonment without option of fine for oil thieves, adding that: "We need to prosecute offenders otherwise they will continue to steal oil."
Uduaghan, who indicated that the federal government was concerned about oil theft because it had so adversely affected the revenue base of the nation, said President Goodluck Jonathan was so concerned about the problem and had created lots of avenues to deal with it.
He said in order to augment this effort, state governors felt there should be extra effort by them to assist the federal government further, adding that NEC had mandated the governments of Bayelsa and Rivers States to hold meetings with Joint Task Force (JTF), international oil companies (IOCs) and stakeholders to ensure opening of pipelines.
The new taskforce is coinciding with the denial of oil workers that they were privy to the huge oil theft going on in the Niger Delta creeks.
Senior Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, had accused the IOCs of complicity in the ongoing crude oil theft in the country.
The LTF initiative was one of the outcomes of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo. Other issues discussed at the meeting were those of grazing reserves and Fulani/farmers clash, update of the report on 2012/2014 federal and state borrowing and almajiri education.
The LTF, according to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, who is also the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Oil Theft Proliferation and Control, has as members the representatives of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Armed Forces, Civil Defence, Police, the State Security Service (SSS) and others.
Pointing out that the establishment of the LTF, whose members would be announced on Monday by Adoke and which lifespan would span 12 months, is predicated upon the fact that in the past, arrests of oil thieves were made but many of them were not prosecuted.
He explained that the task force will look at ways of enforcing the extant laws that stipulate 21 years imprisonment without option of fine for oil thieves, adding that: "We need to prosecute offenders otherwise they will continue to steal oil."
Uduaghan, who indicated that the federal government was concerned about oil theft because it had so adversely affected the revenue base of the nation, said President Goodluck Jonathan was so concerned about the problem and had created lots of avenues to deal with it.
He said in order to augment this effort, state governors felt there should be extra effort by them to assist the federal government further, adding that NEC had mandated the governments of Bayelsa and Rivers States to hold meetings with Joint Task Force (JTF), international oil companies (IOCs) and stakeholders to ensure opening of pipelines.
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