EMEA News
"Executive Thieves" Said to be Responsible for Illegal Bunkering in Nigeria
Dr. Sofiri Joab Peterside, a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Nigeria's University of Port Harcourt says that high-level executive Nigerians are responsible for illegal bunkering activities within the Niger Delta region, Nigerian media reports.
"Oil bunkering has become an industry of its own in Nigeria. There is executive oil theft going on in the Niger Delta region," asserted Peterside.
"Those who are involved in this illegal act are mostly those who are in it just to ensure that they remain among the highly placed in the country."
Peterside's comments are said to have come at the 8th annual national environmental congress of the Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN).
The lecturer referred to illegal bunkering in the region "a thriving business," crediting the crime's success to the involvement of various holders of public office in the country.
Further, Peterside noted that focus of preventing such malpractice seems to be on small-scale oil theft, while little or no attention is given to the larger activities of politicians that he suggests are responsible for stealing the Nigerian oil.
"You may ask, why do our security men stationed at the Cawthorne Channel turn the blind eye while ships come in to illegally load crude oil. You may also ask, who owns these ships," he said.
Last week, it was reported that a Nigerian federal court found seven people guilty of illegal bunkering in the country's waters.
