GROUP Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru has lamented the activities of pipeline vandals and oil thieves, saying they are taking a toll on the operations of the corporation.
He bemoaned that the corporation lost 560,000 barrels of crude to the refineries as feedstock and 109 million litres of petroleum products between January and May.
Dr. Baru made this known during a courtesy visit to the Commandant-General of the Nigerian Security Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Abdudullahi Gani Muhammadu, at the Corps Headquarters, Abuja, on Wednesday.
In a statement by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the corporation, Garba Deen Muhammadu, a copy of which was made available to the Nigerian Tribune, in Abuja, the corporation said it suffered 1,447 incidents of pipeline breaches in the same period.
Responding, the Commandant General of NSCDC, Muhammadu, said the mandate of the corps was to protect critical national infrastructure and assured the NNPC of its readiness to bring pipeline vandalism to an end.