By JIMITOTA ONOYUME
PORT HARCOURT— JOINT Task Force, JTF, has accused multinational oil companies of insincerity in the crusade against illegal bunkering operations in the Niger Delta region.

Commander, Sector 2, Operation Pulo Shield and Brigade Commander, 2 Brigade, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Brig- General Tukur Burutai, who spoke, yesterday, lamented what he termed the lukewarm attitude of oil companies in the fight against illegal bunkering.

He said he was surprised that several weeks after his command drew the attention of one of the oil majors to about 56 illegal bunkering points on its facilities, nothing had been done to fix them.

He said: “The major stakeholders in the oil industry are not sincere in the fight against illegal oil bunkering. It’s a major issue of concern. If the oil companies and NNPC can come together, we can stamp it out. Over 56 illegal bunkering sites we discovered, they belong to an oil company, up till now, it had not been fixed.”