Niger Delta Group to Expose Oil Theft Syndicate

Harris-Okon Emmanuel
21 February 2010

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Warri — Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi (middle), flanked by his wife, Dame Judith and leader of Action Congress, Tonye Princewill, during Mrs. Amaechi's 39th birthday ceremony at Government House, Port Harcourt... recently.

A group, Niger Delta Waterways Vigilante (NDWV), has reiterated commitment to fight against oil theft by exposing the various strategies being adopted by a syndicate that specialises in crude oil theft in the region, so as to bring sanity and clean environment to the riverside communities.

Speaking against the backdrop of recent threat to the lives of its members by the cartel involved in illegal bunkering after it exposed the strategy of obtaining Directorates of Petroleum Resources (DPR) approval to gain entrance to communities where these illicit deals were being perpetrated, the group said it will not be deterred by such threat.

Its spokesman, Chief Gabriel Okolosi, who reaffirmed the stand in a chat with newsmen in Warri, stated that its members are prepared to pay the ultimate prize to continue in the struggle to ensure that the activities of these crude oil thieves are exposed to save the nation from sabotage and consequent cost of millions of dollars it would have generated from the international oil market.

He said: "Besides putting an end to this act of sabotage being perpetrated by these enemies of the state, our mission will also bring relief to the indigenes of the affected communities who have had to contend with many years of pollution in their environment as a result of the activities of these criminals.

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"We have resolved that no amount of threat to the lives and property of our members can stop us from the goal we are set out to achieve. We can no longer allow criminally minded people to continue to subject our nation and people to act of sabotage and abject poverty for their selfish interest even at the expense of our lives."

It would be recalled that it was based on the alarm raised by this group of a new strategy of obtaining Directorates of Petroleum Resources (DPR) approval by the members of the syndicate that specializing in crude oil theft to gain entrance to communities used as loading points that led to the arrest of an Ocean going vessel, MV Shekinah and 17 crew members last week by the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Warri at the Escravos bar in Warri South West council of Delta State.

Those arrested had been handed over to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) by the JTF Command in Warri for further investigation and prosecution.