The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, has outlined the military’s new measures to address oil theft, including the establishment of a unified command structure to oversee security operations in affected regions.
During a bimonthly press briefing at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja, Major General Buba detailed these efforts to Defence Correspondents.
He explained that the military is working to enhance transparency among International Oil Companies (IOCs) by ensuring accurate metering of oil wells and tracking the movement of crude oil from loading points to final destinations.
“We are rallying the support of host communities and stakeholders in the oil sector. Troops are reinforcing surveillance efforts on vessels, terminals, and oil infrastructure, including jackets housing wellheads. Most importantly, we are monitoring to ensure that offenders are prosecuted by the relevant agencies,” Major General Buba stated.
Over the past week, the military reported significant achievements in the South-South zone, including the arrest of 32 individuals involved in oil theft. Troops also discovered and destroyed 20 dugout pits, 24 boats, and 34 storage tanks used for illegal refining.
Additional items recovered included 56 cooking ovens, two speedboats, 14 pumping machines, 18 drums, 22 vehicles, four motorcycles, and 36 illegal refining sites. In total, 802,200 litres of stolen crude oil, 121,900 litres of illegally refined AGO, and 450 litres of DPK were recovered.
Major General Buba further reported that 106 terrorists were killed, 164 individuals arrested, and 103 kidnapped hostages rescued over the past week.
Regarding the scheduled nationwide protests set to begin on August 1 by some activists and other Nigerians, the Director emphasized the need to scrutinize the motivations behind these protests, warning against elements that might exploit public frustrations to incite violence.
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