The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, has said that as part of an effort to tackle oil theft, the company has destroyed 7,500 illegal refineries and disconnected about 6,800 illegal pipeline connections in the Niger Delta.
Kyari made the disclosure over the weekend during a fireside chat at the 2024 Future of Work Summit organised by Productive Youth Network (PYN), which had the theme: “Nigeria of Possibilities: Challenges, Prospects and Strategies for Future of Work.”
Kyari said, “On illegal connections, over 2,000 are yet to be removed, but we will surely get to the end of it.”
Speaking further, he said oil theft had persisted not just because of failure or absence of technology, but the absence of intelligence and reaction.
He said, “For instance, a village is 200 metres away from a massive oil installation, and in that village, there is no electricity and drinking water, and degradation of the environment is going on whereas residents can’t fish or go to their farms.“So, when these criminals come to steal our oil, the communities sit and watch because they have been neglected and they feel there is no need to report.”
