By Ediri Ejoh

Minister of State for Petroleum Resource, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, yesterday warned indigenes of Tarkwa Bay, host to the Atlas Cove Jetty, Nigeria’s biggest petroleum products reception, that the community was at risk of possible acquisition by the Federal Government, if they continued to shield pipeline vandals and oil thieves.

Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, GMD, NNPC

The minister, who issued the warning when he paid an unscheduled visit to the area, said: “We will take over the community if such activities persist,” and also told the community that they were also culpable in the criminal activities going on in the location.

Kachikwu, who expressed concern over the dilapidation of the national asset, noted that the jetty had assumed a prime spot for both local and international bunkering by vandalising the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC’s pipelines bearing refined petroleum products running across the island.

The Minister, who also doubles as the Group Managing Director, GMD, NNPC, took a tour of the community and was taken aback by the level of the illegal activities being perpetuated by vandals for their own personal gains at the expence of majority Nigerians.

During the tour, it was discovered that practically everyone in the community was involved in the illicit trade, as every hut or shanty visited was filled with loads of 50 litre jerry cans, with holes pierced through the pipelines to siphon products meant to be transported to other jetties and depots for onward distribution in the market.

He said: “What I have seen here today is amazing, very frustrating and an eye opener for the problem we are facing. I don’t think Nigerians understand the magnitude of the problems at hand; the more solution you bring in the more problems show up.

“This is a massive operation as you can see, it like a moving train where you can move two to three trucks using jerry cans and transport them through the water to different countries. This is a good discovery but the question is, how many more of this do we have to deal with? It is an eye opener but it’s very frustrating.”

He said the discovery of the hide-outs was made possible by  the efforts of the extra security put in place by the government.

Noting that there was no immediate solution at hand, in view of the magnitude of the criminal activities, he however said solutions were a long term.