Oil companies' insincerity has sustained oil theft in N/Delta - JTF

The persistence of oil theft in the Niger Delta has been blamed on insincerity on the part of oil companies towards ending the menace.Commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF) Operation Polu Shield, Brigadier-General Tukur Buratai, who stated this during a press briefing in Port Harcourt on Monday also denied allegations that the Nigerian Army partakes in the illegal activity.Buratai, who is also the commander of the 2 Amphibious Brigade, Port Harcourt Barracks, had earlier informed journalists, through the acting spokesman of the brigade, Captain Sunny Samuel, that within the month of May alone, JTF's operations in Rivers and Bayelsa states yielded substantial successes against oil theft.According to the army chief, in the said operations, which involved 25 raids on oil thieves' sites, 131 persons were arrested, 96 illegal refineries destroyed, 121 trucks impounded, as well as other effects either employed in the illegal business or produced in the process.On the persistence of illegal oil activities in the Niger Delta, Buratai said the situation would have changed for the better had stakeholders in the oil sector, especially the oil majors, cooperated with the JTF in combating the crime.According to him, oil theft is a serious criminal offence, which is undermining the nation's economy, noting that it can only be checkmated when the oil companies show as much commitment as the security agencies have done so far.'Oil theft is a major issue. It is an issue of national concern. If all the oil companies and indeed the NNPC will cooperate and work together, I want to assure you that we are going to completely stamp out oil theft in the Niger Delta,' he said.
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