*As NNPC loses N51.21bn in 2 years
By Teddy Nwanunobi
The Minister of Niger Delta, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has stated that about 16,000 young Nigerians die annually due to oil pollution.
Akapbio made the statement on Monday during the ‘Town Hall Meeting on Protecting Oil and Gas Infrastructure’ at the NAF Conference Centre in Abuja, said that vandalisation of oil installations poses a greater danger to the Niger Delta region, considering findings of recent research.
He cited a research conducted on the impact of pipeline vandalism in the oil region by a Catholic priest and his organisation, saying that about 16,000 young people, between the ages of 1 to 15 years, die yearly as a result of vandalism and pollution.
“There is also the environmental effect, which only the Niger Delta region itself can explain, because they experience it. Recently, the Chargé d’Affaires of the Paci of the Island paid a courtesy visit to my office, in the company of a Reverend Father – at the moment he (the Reverend Father) is in Bayelsa (State), serving as the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of Stakeholders Alliance for Corporate Accountability (SACA).
“The Reverend Father disclosed that, from their studies, apart from the economic effects of the oil producing – of course, fishing, pipeline vandalisation, and oil spillage, there is also another aspect of the great danger on the wellbeing of the inhabitants. He said, from their own studies, that about 16,000 young people, between the ages of 1 to 15, die annually as a direct result of this pollution, to fishing and all these activities. If this is happening in the Niger Delta region, you can imagine the economic loss and manpower loss to the nation,” noted.
While calling for urgent action to stem the tide, the Minister called for a thorough investigation and sanctions for the perpetrators of the vice.
He alluded that some vandals could be the beneficiaries of the N60 billion allocations for pipeline repairs.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has revealed that it lost about N51.207 billion between 2019 and May 2021.
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, who made the disclosure in his presentation, hinted that pipeline vandals and criminal gangs operating along System 2B axis stole about 307.994 million litres of premium motor spirit (PMS) valued at N41.049 billion.
Kyari also stated that, in System 2E axis, about 26 million litres of PMS valued at N3.468 billion was lost due to activities of vandals in 2019.
He added that, from January to December 2020, losses along System 2B amounted to 146.809 million litres of PMS valued at N22.487 billion.
He listed some notable hotspot areas as Abagbo, Ikate, Akaraba, Ilashe, Imoren, Ijegun, Ikotun, Baruwa, Oke Odo, Warewa and Ilara.
In the System 2E axis, Kyari further said 0.237 million litres of PMS valued at N36.3 million were lost in 2020.
He revealed that, from January to May 2021, NNPC pipeline segments suffered 203 pipeline breaks, with System 2B having 80 pipeline breaks, and System 2E had a total of 114 pipeline breaks, with a total cumulative loss of 39 million litres amounting to N5.973 billion.
Apart from crude oil loss, the GMD also listed environmental damage, huge product losses, high cost for repairs, lost time on operations and human and property damages as other negative effects of pipeline vandalisation.
He called on citizens to take the pipelines as critical national assets, and report activities of suspected vandals to relevant authorities.
He equally called on community leaders to ensure that the pipeline right-of-way is not encroached upon to avoid unfortunate incidences of fire outbreaks.
Valuechain reports that the meeting was the second in a three-town hall meeting series that started in Abuja on June 7, 2021 to address the vandalism of public infrastructure in the country.
The first in the series of the town hall meetings, which was held on June 7, 2021, was on protecting public infrastructure.
It focused on the vandalism of railway tracks, roads, bridges, as well as the removal of manhole coverings and destruction of power infrastructure, among others.