The Administrator of Rivers State, Retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, has called for stronger punishment of oil thieves to curb the rampant economic sabotage crippling Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
The administrator stated this while hosting the Senate Committee on Incessant Crude Oil Theft, led by its Chairman, Senator Ned Nwoko, at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Friday.
Ibas stressed that weak punishment for offenders emboldened criminality, depriving the nation of critical revenue needed for development.
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“Your presence here is both significant and timely. Crude oil theft strikes at the heart of Nigeria’s economic survival, undermining President Bola Tinubu’s reforms to boost oil production and fund national infrastructure,” he stated.
He commended the committee’s mandate to investigate oil theft across producing states and terminals, expressing confidence that their recommendations would strengthen Nigeria’s economic base.
The administrator highlighted Rivers State’s progress in reducing pipeline vandalism through improved intelligence gathering and inter-agency coordination.
He also listed engagements with traditional rulers and community stakeholders and planned deployment of digital surveillance systems over oil installations and Port Harcourt’s ‘Safe-City’ security architecture.
“As a major oil-producing state, we are committed to eliminating threats to production. Our goal is a secure, tech-driven monitoring framework to safeguard assets and boost output,” he said.
To tackle oil theft nationally, Ibas called for the strict prosecution of offenders to ensure convicted oil thieves face deterrent penalties, tamper-proof metering systems, and the fixing of faulty metering, which accounts for 40 per cent of oil losses.
He also advocated enhanced naval and security funding to strengthen the Nigerian Navy and maritime agencies, and the expansion of monitoring to backwaters and international waters, where large-scale theft occurs.
In his response, Senator Ned Nwoko affirmed the committee’s resolve to identify and dismantle criminal networks, both onshore and offshore.
“We need Rivers State’s support to end this menace. Big-time thieves operate in international waters, and we must collaborate to secure Nigeria’s resources,” he said.
The committee, inaugurated three months ago, will submit actionable solutions to the National Assembly to sanitise the oil sector.
