As oil theft threatens Nigeria’s corporate and economic existence, CHIMA NWOKOJI went into the creeks to understand how oil bunkering works. He reports how other illegal oil activities are threatening the environment and life of people in the Niger Delta.
Parading as the landlord of one of the illegal oil bunkering sites in Ekugba Egbema, located in Ohaji/Egbema LGA Imo State, Nigerian Tribune correspondent went into their midst and sounded out some of the oil thieves. They told different stories of how they encounter reptiles and even risk getting burnt right inside the creeks. In all these, they did not express any form of regret because they believed they were taking what belonged to them which government did not allow them to reap requisite benefits.
The kings of the creeks are ready to kill and be killed. So, it is not so easy to stop them by mere persuasion. This was confirmed by a retired civil servant from the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and an indigene of the community, Chief Cajetan Enweronye.
He said they can be so daring towards any attempt to stop their business. It is carried out by young men from many towns and villages in Egbema (both Egbema Imo and Egbema Rivers) as well as outside Egbema.
He said, “I tried to stop this illegal oil bunkering in Ekugba 1(Ulo Ekugba) early this year, particularly the illegal oil bunkering in my kindred’s farmland at Ekugba 1. But I met stiff opposition and even threats to my life as well as threats to burn down my house from these people which incidentally included my kindred and even my blood relations.
“They also threatened and tried to blackmail my nephew, who strongly supported my position. To my greatest surprise, some of my kindred went behind me to collect meager sums of money from those engaged in bunkering to allow them remain on the land.”
Bunkering merchants usually come into the farmlands belonging to a few families in the villages; rupturing crude oil pipes and planting illegal oil refineries. In most cases, work would have started before the real owners ever got wind of their presence.
At the bunkering sites, the oil bunkering merchants do not care about damage to economic trees; as palm trees and cassava planted in some portions of the lands were seen withering while other economic trees had been hewed down. All they care about is sweet crude and the quick money that must be made before it is too late.
Enquiries reveal that within two months, the oil thieves can set up over 20 mini illegal refineries or more.
Residents of Ekugba community are today living in fear. Since September 2019 till this year 2022, oil thieves through the creeks have laid siege to the area, including the land belonging to parents of our correspondent.
Each time land owners accosted them, they arrogantly bragged about being backed by prominent men in Nigeria and that security agencies in the area were aware and not only that, they had been settled.
Thus the villagers would rather succumb to financial inducement than fight a futile battle with a network of criminals and heavily armed militants. According to Mr Chigbo Ajara, former head of the youth vigilante group in Obuomadike Autonomous Community, Egbema, “The boys are heavily armed in the creeks but in the evening, they come into the village to enjoy themselves.”
Right inside the refining sites in Ekugba, Nigerian Tribune correspondent saw so many young men living in makeshift houses constructed with bamboo sticks, tarpaulin and clothes.
Several litres of crude oil were seen in artfully constructed tarpaulin tanks. To extract unrefined crude oil, they burst the pipeline, connect a hose to the makeshift tanks they would have constructed earlier on.
Most of the bukerers were seen nursing wounds sustained from fire accidents and so many were said to have died from the burns because of lack of proper medical care. Victims of fire outbreak prefer their colleagues treating them because going to private or government hospitals would give them out.
One of them, a Bayelsa State indigene who preferred not to mention his name to Nigerian Tribune explained that there are different causes of fire outbreak. While some are cursed by human errors and stubbornness of a few smokers, others are attributed to the angry deities believed to inhabit most rivers that were not properly appeased.
That notwithstanding, the burgeoning business provides different types of jobs. There are many artisans like welders who wed huge refining drums using the best qualities of iron and steel. There are also local seismographers and divers. These artisans see the bunkering business as a temporary opportunity to make bulk money while it lasts.
Generators and Sumo pumping machines with which they pump crude into tanks were part of the paraphernalia seen at the site. From the artificial tanks, they pump crude into their refining pots.
It should be recalled that between March 10 and 24, 2022, the troops of Operation Delta Safe destroyed illegal refineries in different communities, towns, villages and creeks in Ajomo Creeks, Koko town in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State. More discoveries and destructions of such illegal oil refining sites have continued since then, extending to Rivers and Imo states. The items discovered in those places confirm that their equipment and modus operandi are the same.
To give an idea, during the operations, troops discovered and destroyed 49 illegal refineries, 275 polythene bags containing illegally refined AGO, 146 ovens, 145 receivers, four boilers, 125 metal storage tanks, eight GP tanks, 19 drums, 69 units of 50-litre jerry cans, 81 galvanized pipes, 85 dugout pits, five warehouses and pots containing illegally refined AGO.
“Cumulatively, troops within the period recovered 6,679,000 litres of illegally refined AGO, 4,436,000 litres of stolen crude oil, one gunboat, one BMG gun, one AK 47 rifle, five MCs, several rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, 12 motorcycles, 20 wooden boats, 15 pumping machines, two trucks, one ford, three speedboats, five engines, one Keke, and five vehicles,” the Defense Headquarters disclosed in a recent statement.
When there are reports that over 82per cent of Nigeria’s oil production was lost as was the case in February 2022, or that troops destroyed 49 illegal refineries, it sometimes sounds like a fairy tale to those who lived far away. But Nigerian Tribune can authoritatively reveal that these stories are real.
The then Coordinator, Imo State Oil and Gas Sector, and currently the minister of state for education, Mr. Goodluck Opiah, once lamented that “we have a major challenge in that regard. He said oil facilities are being vandalized.
“Crude oil thieves are in the creeks where they set up their illegal refineries. These unpatriotic Nigerians do not mean well for our state and country.
“For us in Imo, it is quite disturbing because it also affects our economy much as it reduces output, and our contribution to the national production of oil which is one of the indices used to allocate funds to states, particularly the oil producing states.”
Betrayal from cattle-herders and scavengers
There is another twist to this story. One of the motorcyclists who carried our correspondent to the site gave his name as Uchenna. He told the Nigerian Tribune another story of how some innocent-looking young cattle herders and those scavenging the area for rods, iron and steel pulled the rug out from under oil bunkering merchants.
According to him, unknown to the bunkerers, some herdsmen and scavengers are their latest albatross. He said that each time the cattlemen discover any site, it will only take a few hours or days, when the army-led task force on illegal oil bunkering would invade the sites. The herdsmen, Uchenna disclosed, wade through the bushes and sometimes the creeks.
“When they encounter the boys in the creeks, they pretend to be friendly because they know the bunkerers are heavily armed.
“Then they will alert some of their scavenger-tribesmen who will in turn alert the task force and top officials in government and in the oil companies. This is because anytime these facilities are raided and destroyed, the iron scavengers will smile to the bank. They will carry all the iron and steel that were not confiscated by the task force and even buy from each other,” he narrated.
Buying, selling of refined products
In the Niger Delta, large volume of AGO is sourced from these illegal refiners of the product locally called ‘kpofire’. The reason is that most companies buy AGO at between N220 and N240 per litre, whereas, the official ex-depot price of AGO from Petroleum product marketing company, NIPCO and other major importers range from N315 to N350 per litre and even more since the price of crude went up.
By buying the product from illegal refiners, below-market minimum prices, a huge demand has been created for the kpofire (illegally refined) products.
Most young secondary school boys have also abandoned school and joined the trade either as tiers (labourers who tie the by-products in sacks) or transporters.
In places where bunkering business thrive, many motorcycle riders, rather than carry passengers, concentrate on diesel tied in cellophane bags.
This naturally encouraged so many people (young and old) to join because of a thriving and ready market.
Motorcycle riders carry 25 liters of Diesel tied in a cellophane bag for between N500 and N1,000 depending on the distance. They use locally constructed carts that can accommodate five bags of 25litre diesel. This means that a trip fetches N2,500. Each bag costs between N6,000 to N10,000 and five bags make up a drum. Each drum costs between N30,000 to N35,000.
Settlement syndrome
A visit to some of the communities where bunkering thrives revealed that flow stations of most oil companies are a few kilometers away from a number of the sites, giving rise to speculations of staff accomplices with the oil bunkerers.
After selling the poorly refined products, the staff receive their share of the cake.
The bunkering warlords have perfected the act of settling (tipping) everyone that is willing to compromise within the value chain. It is called “chop I chop,” in Pidgin English or better explained as “live and let live.”
From landowners to community heads and youths the oil bunkerers make sure that everyone gets a certain share of proceeds from the business. Little wonder residents find it so attractive.
Most times, the land owners are allocated days in the week when they are allowed to take all refined products as compensation. Those are the days, oil bunkerers cook/refine for land owners. Some also join the bunkerers to construct their own cooking drums/ pots. The same applies to law enforcement officers. Many of them own pots as confirmed by a serving Air Force officer who hails from one of the communities but prefers anonymity.
Ignorant of the risk and environmental damage the bunkering activities have on their land, the jobless youths in the villages accept tips and liters of diesel from the oil bunkerers as settlement and their portions of the national cake. This, to them, is their own share of Nigeria’s oil. They reason that since the federal government’s infrastructural neglect remained glaring, it is better to get little than nothing at all.
There are instances when local vigilante groups at several checkpoints accosted the oil tankers and refused to accept tips. In such occasions, heavily armed soldiers who provided escort services to the trucks usually repel the vigilante groups.
So, illegal oil bunkering has in so many instances fueled violence between security agencies and armed groups whenever ‘settlement’ fails, thereby exacerbating human rights abuses. At some point, one is confused about who is really providing security and who is stealing the crude.
The end result is that lives are being lost daily, just as environmental degradation being caused is getting out of hand. More so, with the Ogoni cleanup proving a herculean task, the devastation this will have on Egbema community would require billions of naira for another cleanup project.
Gunrunning, kidnapping and arson
Many people believe that the bunkering warlords and kpofire operators are the same personnel for kidnap and other violent crimes who have been absorbed into a new hustle. There is fear that should kpofire be stopped, another bloody enterprise may return.
The Nigerian Tribune discovered the story of one Mr. Victor Chimaokwu Eluoyibo, a native of Ekugba, Egbema in Ohaji/Egbema LGA. It is heart wrenching, and tells a few, out of many other sad stories arising from crude oil in the backyard of Niger Delta people.
The happenings explain another aspect of Dutch disease or the saying that instead of being a blessing, oil discovery to an extent has become a curse or source of class inequality, weeping and gnashing of teeth not only to oil producing communities, but Nigeria as a whole.
Dutch Disease is primarily associated with the new discovery or exploitation of a valuable natural resource and the unexpected repercussions that such a discovery can have on the overall economy of a nation.
Eluoyibo was initially declared missing for over a week before his corpse was identified by his wife among other dead bodies.
The late young man lived in Owerri, the capital city of Imo State. With a hitherto joyful and young family of four to take care of and no good job in the city of Owerri, he decided to return to his village to join the booming business.
He returned to buy petrol and diesel at a good price in order to resell in the town. Little did he know that the trip embarked on, in the last week of November 2021 was to be his last. He came, bought his goods from oil bunkerers, set out for Owerri but never returned to his lovely family.
How did it happen? On his way back to town, tragedy struck. A notorious gang leader popularly known as Obere ( a.k.a Smallie) accosted him, shot and snuffed life out of Eluoyibo, who was in his mid-30s.
According to Mr. Ajara, Obere was well known for his nefarious activities ranging from kidnapping, armed robbery and robber of robbers. At Obosima Community, a few kilometers from Owerri, he waylaid those carrying products, killed and converted their victims’ goods to his. That was another way that people were disappearing at that time as Imo state boiled, from activities of unknown gunmen with security agencies.
So, after a long search that lasted over a week, news came that Obere also shot and robbed another young trader. But unfortunately for Obere, the man he shot and took his goods only sustained gunshot wound. He got up in the middle of the night and reported to a nearby local vigilante group who began tracing the culprit.
Finally, Obere ran out of luck as the local vigilante discovered his obnoxious depot. It was reported that close to 30 decomposing corpses were found in his enclave.
Late Eluoyibo’s wife was therefore sent for. The young woman came and searched through the corpses. She saw a bangle that is unique to her husband and immediately grabbed the corpse and let out a loud cry.
Late Mr. Victor Chimaokwu Eluoyibo has since been buried in his home town, Ekugba, and Obere handed over to law enforcement agencies for prosecution. But nefarious activities of oil bunkering continued till the latest fire outbreak that claimed over 200 people in Egbema.
The neglect of Niger Delta
A visit to Nigeria’s Niger Delta readily reveals total government neglect of the goose that lays the golden eggs. As such, many analysts have argued that oil theft especially in the Niger Delta has to be handled with great caution.
Since oil exploration began in Nigeria in the 1950s, the nine states that constitute the Niger Delta have been sites of intense violence. It started with the rule that to begin oil exploration and production in rural areas, multinational oil companies are required by law to make payments to the federal government.
Customary and statutory payments are also made to “host communities,” or those who own the land and fishing grounds where drilling or other activities take place.
It therefore follows that designation as a host community thus brings significant benefits in the form of compensation, community development funds and promises of labour and security contracts.
The oil companies are expected to negotiate such agreements and contracts with individuals who they identify as community representatives, notably the top politicians, traditional leaders or chiefs.
However, evidence abounds that these arrangements have fueled inter-communal conflict by funneling huge sums of money to the tribal leaders, many of whom fail to share the benefits with their community.
In fact, it has been turned into a top racket where for instance, a certain former governor of Imo state was alleged to have picked an arrowhead from the community, gave him an appointment and appropriated huge sums to him.
The appointee doled out about N30, 000 to a group of cultists who were used to silence any dissenting voice for eight years of his tenure. Yet, the only access road from Egbema to Owerri has remained impassable for decades especially during the rainy season. This same community is home to Shell Petroleum, Seplat newly acquired oil wells and Adapalm Nigeria Limited.
From road networks to education, healthcare and other spheres of life, the communities are neglected while multinational oil companies, state and federal governments smile to the banks daily with funds from resources exploited in the embattled communities.
Also, the oil companies have severally been accused of igniting discord and thriving more in conflict-riddled host communities as the hosts are usually too engrossed in quarrel to disturb the companies’ operations.
For instance, a major legal battle over who should be recognized as principal landlord, is ongoing between Ekugba (which land the oil wells are located) vs Seplat and about 10 other neighbouring villages.
So, for denying them many benefits such as scholarships, compensation for damage on farmlands, aquatic life and natural vegetation, the young men decide at every little opportunity to take what they feel belongs to them by force.
They are thus, ready recruits to highly organized oil bunkering chieftains, who reportedly are composed of expatriate and local businessmen, high-level politicians and military personnel, and even employees of the oil companies themselves.
They also recruit youth leaders to help provide security for their criminal activities. In the process, illegal oil bunkering, according to Ademola Adigun, Energy Consultant, has created about 28million jobs for local subcontractors, suppliers, engineers, architects, artisans, construction workers and transporters.
Health hazards in soot and smog
‘Kpofire’ or local cooking/refining of crude into diesel and petrol, has heightened the level of pollution especially soot descending on residents of Port Harcourt, Ohaji- Egbema in Imo State and other environs. This is causing all manner of health problems for both the young and old, at present and experts warn that this may extend to the future.
In refining the products, the air is polluted. When the products are seized, keeping them is dangerous and burning them is also dangerous. The marine and farmlands in the communities are endangered.
The tiniest airborne particles in soot, whether gaseous or solid, are especially dangerous because they can penetrate the lungs and bloodstream and worsen bronchitis, lead to heart attacks, and even hasten death.
Also, smog is not left out. Smog irritates the eyes and throat and also damages the lungs, especially those of children, senior citizens, and people who work or exercise outdoors. It’s even worse for people who have asthma or allergies.
These extra pollutants, according to experts, can intensify their symptoms and trigger asthma attacks.
Conclusion
In search of solution, some industry experts have suggested that President Muhammadu Buhari, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Shell Petroleum, NNPC, the Imo State Government, Rivers State Government, which recently donated 14 gun boats to security agencies in the state, and other patriotic individuals/institutions should declare a state of emergency on oil bunkering before it is too late.
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