The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, has said Nigerians are behind the vandalism of oil pipeline in the country, stating that churches and mosques are used to store stolen crude oil.
According to the NNPC Limited boss, church leaders, security agencies as well as government officials are involved in oil theft that is costing the Nigerian government and oil companies billions of naira.
Reports as it that a whopping N434 billion (about $1 billion) was lost to oil theft between January and March this year, according to the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe.
In May 2022, Komolafe said only about 1.35 million barrels or 71 percent of the 1.9 million barrels that Nigeria produces gets to the crude oil export terminals due to massive theft and pipeline vandalism.
Kyari, during the 49th session of the weekly ministerial briefing at the State House in Abuja on Tuesday, disclosed that some of the stolen crude oil were found in religious centers of worship in Nigeria.
He explained that there was a network of vandals that have shut down the entire network of pipelines distributing petroleum products across the country. In order to mitigate the attacks.
With 295 illegal crude oil connections discovered, Kyari said a national reserve company will be created to manage the petroleum products for distribution.
