Crude Oil Theft: Buhari Seeks Tighter Security Over Gulf Of Guinea

President Muhammadu Buhari called for more measures on Tuesday to tighten security over the Gulf of Guinea to prevent the theft of crude oil and smuggling of arms and ammunition.

He explained that doing so would protect the interest and well-being of the countries of the Gulf of Guinea Commission.

The President gave his position during a virtual session he held with the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Mrs Florentina Ukonga.

She is a Nigerian.

Buhari stated, “The Gulf of Guinea is very strategic, and it is regrettable that most member states of the Commission are not up and doing. We need to check the theft of oil through the Gulf, the smuggling of arms and ammunition, and the breaking of border regulations through the waters.

THE WHISTLER recalls that in February this year, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, had disclosed that the country lost about $750million to crude oil theft in 2019 alone.

He stated that the theft, partly linked to piracy on the Gulf of Guinea, had a huge impact on the operations of the NNPC.

Kyari was speaking at the Executive Intelligence Management Course 13 of the National Institute for Security Studies.

Buhari told Ukonga that Nigeria would be alive to her responsibilities like prompt payment of dues, among others.

He added that he would write leaders of member states “to participate actively in the programmes of the commission, and to defray their financial commitments.”

The President also mentioned the challenges the countries were facing amid the raging COVID -19 pandemic, but praised Angola, the host of the commission’s secretariat, for all the efforts in keeping it running.

The Presidency stated in Abuja that Ukonga had “raised the many ills that plague the Commission to include lack of funds, through non-payment of annual dues by member countries, poor attendance at meetings or sending of low level representation, non-holding of elections to determine who the next chairman would be, since Nigeria finished her tenure in 2018.”

Presidential spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, quoted Ukonga as saying that the commission was the framework for consultation on issues of development and cooperation by members.

She lamented that in the absence of such, there were deleterious developments like over-fishing of the waters, oil theft, pollution issues, arms trafficking, and others.