In the recent report, Nigeria has promised to crack down on oil theft.
A week after a supertanker was stopped off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari announced on Friday that security would be increased all across the country in an effort to put an end to widespread oil theft.
The Report
“„"We will not allow a few criminals to have unfettered access to the nation's crude oil supply," President Buhari said in a statement.
“„"Therefore, I have directed our security agencies to speedily bring to an end the activities of these vandals in the Niger Delta.", he added.
There should be no place for these kinds of criminals to hide, and our cooperation with the countries that border us in an effort to put a stop to these kinds of crimes is being bolstered and tightened up, he said.
Several days after evading arrest and making their escape from Nigeria, the crew of the supertanker MV Heroic Idun were apprehended by the navy of Equatorial Guinea on August 12.
The vessel had a capacity of three million barrels.
Anatalio Nzang Nguema, the chief prosecutor of Equatorial Guinea, stated on state television TVGE that all 25 members of the tanker's crew had been arrested.
Of the crew, 16 were from India, seven were from Sri Lanka, one was from Poland, and one was from the Philippines.
Conclusion
Every day in Nigeria, the country that produces the most crude oil in Africa, hundreds of millions of barrels of oil are either stolen or diverted from pipelines and then sold on the black market.