By Michael Eboh
Abuja—Nigeria  lost N1.6 trillion in 2016 and N995 billion in 2017 to crude oil theft, translating to a loss of about $8.9 million daily and a combined loss of N2.6 trillion over the two-year period,    according to a draft report presented yesterday, by the Nigeria Natural Resource Charter, NNRC.

Presenting the report at a capacity building workshop for journalists to enhance quality of reporting on oil theft in Abuja, Senior Consultant, Africa Practice, Dawn Dimowo, lamented the rising cases of crude oil theft, which she blamed on poor governance of oil revenue and corruption in the sector, as well as neglect of oil-producing communities by oil companies.

File Photo: Crude Oil

She also stated that findings in the report showed a positive correlation between elections, politics and crude oil theft, noting that local politicians, it was assumed, engages in oil theft to gain funding for elections.

She also disclosed that researchers during the course of preparing the report discovered that the Joint Task Force, JTF, created by the security agencies to curb the menace of oil theft had cost the country a sizable amount of money.

Oil thieves bribe JTF officers N374m monthly

She said: “This large scale crime cannot go on without the $432,000 used to bribe JTF officers for access to crude oil pipelines. This translates to a bribe of approximately N373.68 million monthly.

“It is widely speculated that JTF officers often turn a blind eye to oil theft in return for a fee. Oil thieves buy the ‘right’ to operate on pipelines from JTF officers patrolling that area and also from host communities’ leaders.”

Also speaking, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu convener of the programme and former spokesperson to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Minister of Finance, disclosed that it was estimated that Nigeria loses revenue in the range of $7 billion to $12 billion annually to oil theft, peaking at $15.9 billion in 2014 and N3.8 trillion in 2016.

According to him, the amount lost to crude oil theft in 2016 was more than the N4 trillion revenue target attained by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, in 2017.

Speaking in the same vein, consultant to the NNRC, Mrs. Ramatu Bako, noted that oil theft had brought about a number of social ills, declaring that apart from environmental degradation, it had brought about low enrolment in schools, as youths now find it more attractive to steal crude oil than attend schools.

The NNRC Report titled, ‘Oil Theft in Nigeria,’ disclosed that the estimated value of total losses suffered by Nigeria through the various methods by which oil is stolen from the Niger Delta was higher than the current combined allocations for health and education captured in the 2018 budget.

Losses to oil theft bigger than education, health allocations

 According to the report, the combined allocations for health and education amount to N189.4 billion, which translates to a mere 8.4 per cent of the estimated value of losses from oil theft two years ago.