nigeria cracks down on illicit oil refineries
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Nigeria cracks down on illicit oil refineries

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Nigeria cracks down on illicit oil refineries

Members of the NNS Delta of the Nigerian Navy forces beach
Kana Rugbana - Arab Today

Nigerian commander Remi Fadairo points to the roiling plume of black smoke blotting the morning horizon in the Niger Delta — the unmistakable sign of an illicit oil refinery.
“Let’s see if we can go eat them for breakfast,” he says with an ominous chuckle.
The 44-year-old colonel, a man with broad shoulders wearing his fatigues tucked into gumboots, is standing in the middle of a destroyed illicit refinery in Kana Rugbana, an area in the swamplands some 20 nautical miles from Port Harcourt.
Fadairo is part of the Joint Task Force Operation Delta Safe, a coalition of Nigerian security forces tasked with protecting the country’s oil and gas infrastructure.
Last year, militant attacks cut oil production to 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, triggering Nigeria’s worst economic slump in 25 years.
Following talks with the government, the militants have suspended their sabotage. But Nigerian troops on the ground say the battle is not over, it has just changed.
Today, the military says one of its priorities is to crack down on the illicit refineries that they claim fund the operations of the militants.
“The two are interwoven, if they are not doing militancy, they are doing this,” Fadairo tells AFP as he wades through crude-soaked muck.
Despite the site looking like a scrap yard, Fadairo says it actually is being rehabilitated, showing new silver pipes welded to a rusted metal container.
On the ground between iridescent oil puddles lay little sachets of gin, empty packets of instant noodles and cigarette butts left by the bush distillers.
“We just destroyed all this but they are back,” says Fadairo. “They are trying to revive it.”
The illicit refineries are just one component of oil theft in Nigeria, a mammoth industry estimated to be worth as much as $8 billion a year, according to a 2013 report by Chatham House, a London think-tank.
“The principal security concerns are endemic corruption, which creates economic discontent, breakdown of the rule of law, which allows for criminality to be normalized, and the funding of militancy,” said Ian Ralby, founder of the I.R. Consilium, a security advisory firm.
In the past month, Fadairo’s troops have destroyed more than 10 illicit refineries, which process oil stolen from the pipelines of multinational companies, including Shell and Eni, by heating it in car-sized metal containers.
The waste is dumped into the surrounding swamplands, turning what should be a wetland paradise into a monochrome nightmare dominated by the white skeletons of dead mangrove trees.

Source: Arab News

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

nigeria cracks down on illicit oil refineries nigeria cracks down on illicit oil refineries

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

nigeria cracks down on illicit oil refineries nigeria cracks down on illicit oil refineries

 



GMT 19:31 2016 Wednesday ,05 October

Yemeni President receives British Ambassador to Yemen

GMT 14:00 2011 Sunday ,20 November

Raging bulls connect with past

GMT 07:55 2015 Friday ,11 December

Indian women in battle against Mumbai mosque ban

GMT 21:28 2017 Tuesday ,19 September

Arab Coalition destroys sites of insurgents in Najran

GMT 13:48 2017 Monday ,01 May

Omani woman kills man after blackmail attempt

GMT 20:55 2017 Sunday ,14 May

Egypt condemns suicide attack in Saudi Arabia

GMT 09:40 2017 Saturday ,18 February

Pollution reaches "unbearable" level to humanity

GMT 05:05 2017 Sunday ,24 September

Psychologists help Mexico deal

GMT 20:14 2017 Saturday ,12 August

Book gives voice to Vietnam's strangled anger

GMT 11:55 2017 Saturday ,11 March

Leads Sri Lanka to crushing win over Bangladesh

GMT 11:36 2017 Saturday ,03 June

April21st-May21st

GMT 03:48 2017 Saturday ,30 September

Turkey will update customs union agreement with EU

GMT 19:59 2017 Monday ,20 February

Sauber aim for return to midfield with new F1 car

GMT 09:18 2017 Wednesday ,26 April

Shutdown threat ebbs as Trump relents on wall funding

GMT 20:48 2017 Monday ,30 October

171 Ukrainian tourists arrive at Marsa Alam airport

GMT 20:57 2016 Wednesday ,30 November

September 22 - October 22
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday