A retired navy admiral has advised the president of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to blow up vessels carrying stolen crude oil along with their crew members.
“Direct the military to blow up any ship used in stealing our crude oil, sink the ship with its crew, do so two or three times, and see if crude oil theft will not be a thing of the past in Nigeria,” he said.
He noted that the government needs a strong political will to curb the menace of oil theft. The lack of political will has caused all other intentions to fight the menace a failure, as had always been with previous governments.
According to the Admiral, his suggestion was backed by his knowledge of the impunity with which the crude oil thieves operate because many top Nigerians are involved in the illicit business.
He further disclosed that top government government agencies and security agents were also involved in the illegal business of crude oil theft.
The admiral advised the government to declare war on anyone who steals the country’s oil, as he described crude oil as “Nigeria’s blood”. He said the action will lead to the eventual death of the country, so its better to kill the perpetrators of the crime ‘before they kill us’.
“If I had my way, we should empower security agencies to attack and destroy any vessel. When I say vessel, I mean any floating object, any vessel that is capable of floating and being used for transportation of any contraband, any crude oil, or anything concerning our mineral resources. They should take it as an enemy vessel and sink it. They should attack it, including everybody inside; they should waste it all”.
”By the time we do it two or three times, ships will stop coming into Nigeria to steal our oil, and all the people in the creek will stop working because there will be nobody to load from them because they cannot enter our waters again,” he said.
Recently, the Senate disclosed that the country had lost N2.3 trillion to the menace of crude oil theft in 2023 alone. This calls for the need to declare any oil thief as the country’s enemy.
