Reps Demand Probe of Vessel with Stolen Nigerian Crude

The Minority caucus in the House of Representatives Saturday demanded a probe of the circumstances leading to the arrest of a Norwegian vessel suspected of carrying millions of litres of stolen Nigerian crude and recent reports of massive crude oil theft in the country.

Minority Leader of the House, Rep. Ndudi Elumelu said in a statement in Abuja that it was alarming that a foreign vessel entered the country, loaded millions of litres of crude oil and exited without being noticed.

Elumelu alleged that the vessel may have been assisted in carrying out the act by those he described as corrupt government officials.

He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to halt the “haemorrhaging of the national economy” through crude oil theft in the interest of suffering Nigerians.

The statement said: “The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives is alarmed by the massive oil theft in the country which has become an organised racket.”

“The Minority Caucus is disturbed by reports of alleged complicity by certain corrupt government officials as evinced in the clandestine entrance and berthing of a three-million-barrel capacity supertanker, MV. Heroic Idun in Nigerian waters to criminally load millions of barrels of stolen crude oil from our country.

“Such reported complicity is also evidenced in the failure of the Nigerian authorities to effectively intercept and arrest the criminal tanker and its crew, which successfully left the Nigerian waters only to be apprehended by the Equatorial Guinea Navy.

“This shocking development underscores the massive sleaze in our nation’s oil and gas sector under the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration, with consequential crippling effect on our overall national economy and social wellbeing.

“It is indeed disturbing that under the APC administration, according to official reports, oil thieves are having a field day stealing up to 400,000 barrels of crude oil every day.

“This amounts to a daily siphoning of about $40million (given the current average global oil price of around $100 a barrel) accrued revenue meant for the wellbeing of Nigerians.”

He said the caucus was saddened because “such enabled sleaze is responsible for the crippling of our production and services sectors, massive unemployment; the collapse of our critical sectors including education, health and power; unbearable infrastructural stagnation and escalated insecurity with attendant excruciating hardship on our citizens.

“The Minority Caucus, standing with Nigerians, demands an immediate, independent and open investigation into the issue of oil theft in the country with particular reference to the circumstances that facilitated the reported illegal operation by MV Heroic Idun as well as its escape from our waters.

“Who granted the vessel entrance into the Nigerian waters? Who granted it facilities to illegally berth and pump stolen crude oil? What circumstances facilitated its escape from the Nigerian waters? Who is the vessel working for and who are those behind the illegal operation?”

The caucus commended the Nigerian Navy for their collaboration with Equatorial Guinea Navy to arrest the vessel and urged such officers to assist in ensuring that those behind the “crime against our nation are all brought to book.

“Our caucus also urges President Muhammadu Buhari to, in the interest of suffering Nigerians, rise to the occasion and take urgent steps to halt the haemorrhaging of our national economy through crude oil theft”.