By Thayibat Pepple, Hanniel Bluejack

The Nigerian Navy (NN) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have restated their commitment to end illegal oil bunkering and other forms of economic sabotage.

Commanding Officer (CO) of the Nigerian Navy Forward Operating Base (FOB), Bonny, Navy Capt. Badamasi Idris Yahuza stated this on Monday, September 28, 2020, while handing over 11 suspects arrested for illegal oil bunkering and other crimes to the EFCC in Bonny.

The Head of Extractive Industry Fraud Section, EFCC Zonal Office, Port Harcourt, Principal Detective Superintendent (PDS) Ani Davies Stanley took the suspects into custody on behalf of the commission.

“We have been making some huge successes because they have been making some prosecutions and some of the suspects have been prosecuted and sentenced to prison. EFCC has been very helpful in responding to such requests any time whenever we call on them,” Navy Capt. Yahuza said.  

“We, as an agency, can only arrest, we don’t have the powers to prosecute as such we need the collaboration of the relevant prosecuting agencies to carry out such prosecutions.”

The Navy chief informed that the suspects being handed over to the EFCC were arrested at an illegal refining site in Bonny, stating that aside admitting to the crime, they had also been making useful statements to the security operatives investigating the matter.

“We found them at an illegal refining site with the products they have stolen. This was after we got an information from our intelligence unit and luckily we went at the right time and arrested them. They have also confessed to the crime and helping with more information.”

Both agencies indicated a consensus on the negative impact illegal oil bunkering was having on nation’s economy, environment and social structures, stressing that there was the need for urgent steps to be taken to stop it at all cost.

“Apart from the fact that this is an ecosystem, like you have said, there is the hazard that it is affecting people because at the site where these activities are carried out the environment is being damaged. So, the impact is environmental, it is social, it is economic, and in other ways.”  

He advised those involved in the heinous crime of illegal oil bunkering to desist from it as it was inimical to the ecosystem, the nation’s economy and the health of fellow Nigerians, advising them to rather find legitimate means of income.

“So, my advice to these young people is that they should avoid this kind of business. They should look for something profitable to do instead of involving in this kind of business.”

On his part, The Head of Extractive Industry Fraud Section, EFCC Zonal Office, Port Harcourt, Principal Detective Superintendent (PDS) Ani Davies Stanley praised the Nigerian Navy for being forthright in its demonstrated determination to stamp out economic crimes and sabotage to the oil and gas industry.  

“Let me say that the Navy has done a very great job by arresting illegal oil bunkerers and handing them over to the EFCC. Actually, illegal oil bunkering or oil theft is one of the serious organized cross-border crimes targeted at bringing down the economy of a nation and in tackling this there is need for serious collaborative efforts between agencies like the Navy has done today.”

According to him, 320 drums of product suspected to be illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) were recovered from the suspects, which included Indongesit Effiong Mfon, Asuquo James, Samuel Bassey, Blessed Effiong Bassey, Victor Edet Attah, Edet Okon; Nse Jackson Okon, Innocent Effiong, Njok Okon, Uduak Asuquo and Effiong Asuquo.

He noted that the day’s event would deepen the inter-agency collaboration needed to sustain and win the fight against oil theft, economic sabotage and other crimes bedeviling the nation, stressing that “this will go a long way in furthering the fight against illegal oil bunkering”.

PDS Stanley pointed out that the EFCC’s determination to checkmate financial and economic crimes was evidenced in the establishment of specialized section, the Extractive Industry Fraud Section, dedicated to fighting such ills across the whole gamut of the nation’s extractive industry spectrum.  

“As EFCC, we have a strategic section called the Extractive Industry Fraud Section that is particularly focused on investigating cases of oil theft. This is one of the cases that we are also going to use and demonstrate that we are also ready to fight every form of economic sabotage and ensure that the fight is also strengthened.”

He also had some words of advice for perpetrators of illegal oil bunkering. Hear him: “It also has negative effects for our national economy. This is our national treasure and if well harnessed it will also be integrated into our economic profile and yield better gains for us all. I will advise them to desist from these business otherwise we will make this environment uncomfortable for them. My advice to them is that they should desist from this illegitimate kind of business”.