OIL THEFT: Nigeria lost N11.08trn in 2018

Nigeria lost a total of N11.08 trillion in 2018 to the activities of oil thieves and illegal refining, the Nigerian Navy said on Tuesday.

According to the Navy, which stated this at its First Quarterly Media Dialogue in Abuja, 1,952 illegal crude oil refining sites in the Niger Delta were uncovered and subsequently destroyed by its troops in the region.

Navy’s Chief of Training and Operations, CTOPS, Rear Admiral Mackson Kadiri, who addressed the media, said the money was lost to maritime crimes,which he noted,included illegal oil refining and theft of other products.

While noting that illegal refining was a major threat to nation’s maritime environment, Kadiri said the activation of Operation Sweep by the service paid off.

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He said: “Another threat to Nigerian maritime environment is illegal refining of crude oil.

“In response to this, in 2016, the Nigerian Navy activated what we call Operation River Sweep which is aimed at combating crude oil theft and illegal refining activities.

“In 2017, a total of 1,315 illegal refining sites were destroyed and in 2018,only 637 only were destroyed”, he said.

The nation, according to Kadiri, also lost a total of 277, 040 barrels of crude oil, 23.1 million litres of AGO, 212, 610 litres of PMS, and 1. 2 million litres of DPK to vandals and oil thieves.

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