Illegal Oil Bunkering, Violence and Criminal Offences in Nigeria’s Territorial Waters and the Niger Delta Environs: Proposing Extension of Informed Policymaking

Abstract

While it illegal oil bunkering has gone on around the Niger Delta for about 30 years, it escalated more recently (2012 to present) thereby poses serious implications on many facets of in Nigeria economy, society, and environment. Government's plan to eliminate it or drastically curb the crime has been hampered by inadequate knowledge of the scale of its occurrence in terms of the patterns expressed by its varying intensities or magnitude of its aspects over space, time, and structure. To achieve the objective of highlighting the recent escalation of illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta, this article examined issues helpful issues. It briefly reflected on recent studies of the phenomenal crime, its attendant geopolitical and geo-economic consequences on multinational economies and societies: Nigeria, UK, nations located close to the foregoing: European countries -on the one hand; Nigeria's neighbors; Gulf of Guinea region- on the other. Other aspects that are briefly examined are: contextual explanation of Nigeria's political economy, society, and related histories. Considering and comparing the recent estimation of the history of illegal oil bunkering of over 30 years with a recent study of the phenomenon over less than ten years (2002-2008), it is proposed that a study that extends the temporal scale of the analysis, preferably covering the entire life-span of the phenomenon is necessary. It is concluded that reckoning that the result of the shorter term spatial-temporal analyses study was robust, findings of the longer-term study promises to provide valuable information for strengthening public policy/programs for reducing oil theft in the region. Some aspects of the proposed study are outlined.Keywords: Spatio-Temporal Analyses, Theft, Evidence-Based Policy, Niger Delta1 IntroductionSome challenges have been gnawing at the heart of Nigeria's nationhood warrant concerted action by academic researchers to strengthen evidence-based policymaking and administration. An African multinational counter-insurgency was most recently launched to respond to one of the challenges Nigeria has been facing. This pertains to the new terrorism, describing the mindless insurgency waged by the Islamic, Boko Haram, in northern Nigeria since 2009 to the present (2015) as has cost the country many thousands of human lives, displaced millions internally and internationally. Another debilitating challenge (illegal oil bunkering) in Nigeria's Niger Delta is yet to attract such serious attention. Nigeria's government functionaries e.g. the coordinating minister of the economy, Okonjo-Iweala had feared that having reportedly evolved for over 30 years and counting [7] Oil theft: could make Nigeria's government to lose $12bn in 2013 ... [25]. Both violent challenges have been enormously costly to the Nigerian State as well as Nigerians [19] [21] [18]. While a comprehensive record of the history - including costing of illegal oil bunkering is yet to be undertaken it has been attracting academic research attention. By analyzing offences perpetrated by ocean-going vessels in Nigeria's territorial waters in the late 2000s, the present author led co-workers to inform on the activities of people most likely involved in illegal oil-bunkering in the area within the Niger Delta [10].The cost of illegal oil bunkering to Nigeria's government in terms of forfeited revenue (sizes) has more recently been variously estimated at over a quarter of its annual national budget. The losses arising from illegal oil bunkering to Nigeria's government has been estimated at £7bn a year, the crime causes other stakeholders e.g. the United Kingdom, United States of America, and their allies to incur losses [19] [7] [21]. Moreover, it was reported in 2014 that Nigeria's President Jonathan plans to Spend $1Billion... in a policy taking aims at curbing oil theft in the Niger Delta [11].1.1 Problematizing President Jonathan's desire to tackle illegal oil bunkering: inadequate knowledge of the crime perpetrationPresident Jonathan's plan to tackle illegal oil bunkering requires the formulation of a policy and the latter's implementation in terms of a program (and projects) aiming towards ensuring that various facets related to the challenge are properly understood before meaningful management -including planning can be undertaken. …