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  • Oil & Gas - News
  • Updated: September 13, 2022

Oil Theft: Senate Orders Military, Security Chiefs To Charge Suspects

Oil Theft: Senate Orders Military, Security Chiefs To Charge

The Senate's top officials on Monday demanded that the nation's military and security authorities begin prosecuting anybody who is thought to be involved in oil theft.

The National Assembly's upper chamber also gave the judiciary the job of expediting hearings in cases involving oil theft and other types of economic sabotage.

This was said by the Senate's president, Ahmad Lawan, during statements he delivered before a secret session of the red chamber's top officials, as well as the military and security authorities, to examine the nation's progress in the fight against instability.

The meeting with the Senate was a continuation of a related one that Lawan presided over earlier in August.

Ovie Omo-Agege, the Deputy Senate President, as well as other top senatorial officials and the chairs of the Senate's committees on security attended.

The three Service Chiefs, the Inspector General of Police, the Directors-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and the State Security Service were also present (SSS).

Others included the Commandant General of the National Security and Civic Defense Corps, while the Immigration Service was represented by the Acting Comptroller General.

Lawan bemoaned the widespread theft of the country's crude oil and stressed that the phenomenon must be stopped while the offenders must be swiftly apprehended and brought to justice.

“Those who have made every effort to steal our oil at an industrial scale, I’m sure some of them may not be that lucky to escape.

“We want to see trials of people who are caught because when that happens, citizens will know that nobody, no matter how high that person is, can go scot-free if he or she decides to get involved in this kind of criminal activity.

“Of course, I will appeal to our courts – the judiciary – once we have cases like this, we must give expeditious consideration, because these are the issues that, today, are militating against our stability and even against our democracy.

“We lose so much of our oil. As of the last count, the report was that we export just a little above 900,000 barrels.

"And that is just about 50 per cent because it is supposed to be 1.8million barrels per day and that is halving our revenues and our resources for development.

“So I want to appeal to the judiciary to give a special consideration once a suspected oil thief is taken to Court.

"We must prosecute them. It is not enough to just take away whatever they have stolen and say go and sin no more.”

The purpose of the conference, according to Lawan, was to discuss the earlier one that was convened at the beginning of August to examine the nation's security condition.

He expressed happiness over the dramatic improvement in the nation's security following the meeting with the security and military officials in August.

“Before we closed for our annual summer recess, Distinguished Senators and indeed, members of the National Assembly expressed so many concerns with respect to the security situation prevailing and we felt we must engage our security agencies so that together, we will continue to fight these challenges in our country.

“I am happy and I’m sure I’m speaking the mind of my colleagues, that after that meeting, till today, we have seen a remarkable difference in the fight against insecurity in our country by our Armed Forces and other security agencies and we are very proud of that.

“We pray that this continues because we have seen the initiative and it is for us to finish the job.

"When President Buhari spoke of ensuring that we return to normalcy by December 2022, I’m sure he had in mind what you have been doing recently.

“I believe that you, our Armed Forces and other security agencies have everything in terms of morals and determination, even though we still have to give some other support.

"This meeting, therefore, is to review what has happened so far.

“While we fight the insecurity in the country, sometimes we capture bandits alive.”

Lawan also requested that the parliamentarians be given privacy during the closed-door meeting with the security chiefs.

“We are responsible people. There are things that we know are very sensitive but some things are treated better when we are on the same page so that we also don’t legislate blindfolded or without the necessary background information.

“Where there are requests or requirements to enhance the capacity and the competence for Armed Forces and other security agencies, I think we should consider that as a priority as well,” the Senate President said.

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