Instead of going to European and other foreign countries to seek for help on how to tackle crude oil theft, the Goodluck Jonathan government has been advised to be bold and move against “principalities and powers in high places,” who are responsible for crude oil theft in Nigeria.
This revelation came from an insider, the Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, in Abuja on Wednesday.
Sunmonu, who spoke at the ongoing Nigeria Oil and Gas 2013 Exhibition and Conference, compared the stolen crude deal to the drug business with couriers, small dealers and sponsors.
Sunmonu said like the deadly drug business, criminals who sabotaged oil pipelines were working for strong men that should be found out and dealt with of the government is serious.
“The truth is that the small criminals in the creeks of Niger Delta bursting pipelines and stealing crude oil are not working for themselves. Like the drug cartels around the world, they are being sponsored by big principalities and powers in high places, which the government should go against if the fight against crude oil theft is to be won,” he said.
The Shell boss said advised those in government to tackle poverty among Nigerians, adding that if this was taken care of, the problem would have been half solved, as the perpetrators would not have any reason to allow themselves to be used to steal the country’s commonwealth.
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