800,000 Litres Vessel: ‘They Burnt It To Cover Real Culprits Of Oil Theft – Bayelsa Traditional Ruler, Bubaraye Dakolo

The Chairman of the Bayelsa Traditional Rulers’ Council, Bubaraye Dakolo, has asserted that Nigerian authorities burnt the 800,000 litres capacity vessel carrying stolen crude oil to cover up for the real culprits behind the oil theft menace in the country.

According to the monarch, all the people the Nigerian government had been parading as suspects of oil thefts were actually victims of circumstances.

Naija News reported on Monday that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd, in a statement, confirmed that a private security contractor engaged by the corporation intercepted a suspicious Vessel with a Cargo of Crude oil.

The NNPC Ltd, in a statement by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Garba Deen Muhammad, said the cargo was heading to Cameroun with the Cargo on board when it was apprehended at an offshore location.

According to Muhammad, the vessel has been conducting illegal operations for twelve years.

The statement added that a preliminary investigation revealed that the oil cargo onboard was illegally sourced from a well jacket offshore in Ondo State, Nigeria. There was no valid documentation for the Vessel or the Crude Oil Cargo onboard during the arrest.

The Captain and Crew members were all on board when the arrest was made.

Subsequently,  the Joint Task Force, Operation Delta Safe, working with Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited in the Escravos region of Delta State, burnt the seized vessel on Tuesday.

According to the Executive Director, Operations Technical, Tantita Security Services, Captain Warredi Enisuoh said, “The whole point of destroying the ship is to send a message to those who invest in illegality in Nigerian waters that this is what it is going to take if they so wish to engage in this kind of business.”

Reacting to the development, Dakolo, while featuring on Arise Arise News on Wednesday, said the seized vessel was set ablaze to avoid investigating those truly behind the crime.

He said, “I can tell you for free that the vehicle was burnt because it was cheaper to burn it rather than to rein in the oil thief that is behind it all.

 “Usually, what Nigeria has done for decades is to parade the young, helpless, uneducated youth from the Niger Delta as the typical thief. But I argue that he shouldn’t be called a thief but to be rehabilitated.

“He belongs to a place where you have to educate him, reorientate him and make him a patriotic Nigerian.

“He’s a victim of oil thieves. Today he may need to hear that the real thief of oil is someone who has a yacht, someone who has a golf course, someone who cannot sleep a night in the Niger Delta because of mosquitoes and insecurity.

“He’s someone who has land in Banana Island, in London, in Abuja, in Frankfurt, in New York City. Those are the thieves.”