With the approval of funds by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) will be tackling oil thieves with gunboats that will soon be acquired.
Addressing state commandants and other top management staff of the corps, Ahmed Audi, commandant-general of the NSCDC who made this disclosure, stated that plans to acquire the gunboats have already been finalised.
According to him, the gunboats will be used for surveillance operations in riverine areas.
While maintaining that the Federal Government (FG) had begun a clampdown on illegal oil refining activities in the country, Audi noted that aside from the gunboats, NSCDC has taken the delivery of other sensitive intelligence equipment that would be deployed to states to aid information gathering.
“Intelligence gathering and effective synergy is what will help nip insecurity in the bud.
“We have realised that the intelligence reports state commandants are giving us are not enough. Citizens need to also know that the fight against insecurity should be of concern to all,” Audi was quoted as saying.
Why this…
According to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigeria loses more than 115,000 barrels per day to oil theft and vandalism.
The NUPRC estimated the losses to be equivalent of $300 million every day.
“We are losing about 115,926 barrels per day — so that literally translates to roughly about $300 million, and that’s a huge loss to a nation that actually requires these funds.
“But the larger percentage is due to crude oil theft, and as a commission, we know the impact of this, and recognising our regulatory role, we have been able to reach out to other operators as to what we can do about this,” Gbenga Komolafe, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NUPRC, had stated.
Should the gunboats be put to effective use, Nigeria may be saving $300 million or more on daily basis, and that money can be put to the running of her struggling economy.
