Nigerian lawmakers order inquiry into rampant oil theft

Nigeria ordered an investigation into illegal oil bunkering, worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Nigeria’s production capacity has been slashed by thieves drilling into pipelines that pass through winding creeks and waterways in the vast Niger Delta region.
“There is an unprecedented upsurge of illegal bunkering activities within the Nigerian coastal region, resulting in the daily threat of vandalization of oil pipelines and other facilities and general state of insecurity in the country,” said assembly member Daniel Rayenieju, who presented the motion.
The resolution said the inquiry would need to answer pressing questions including who owns the illegal bunkering vessels in Nigerian waters and why is it difficult to stop them, what happens to the seized crude oil and who buys it internationally. The answers could prove embarrassing for Nigerian politicians and security agents, some of whom are thought to collude in the underground trade.