Abstract
This paper examines the rising cases of oil theft in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria which has negatively impacted on the Nigerian economy. This is because Nigerian state solely depend oil generated revenues for her economic survival. The aim of this study is to critically examine the methods, actors, causes, impacts of oil theft and the measures adopted by Nigerian governments to combat oil theft. The location of the study is the Niger Delta region and the study was timed within the period of 2009-2014. Secondary data were generated for the study, while content analysis was used for data interpretation and analysis. The study revealed that different individuals and groups were involved in oil theft and illegal bunkering activities. The study further proved that persistence oil theft in the Niger Delta is due to the enthroned corruption by Nigerian elites, high level of youth unemployment, ineffective and corrupt law enforcement agencies and international crime collaborations. The study also revealed that successive Nigerian governments have made attempts to curb the menace by the establishment of a special security outfit, militarization of the Niger Delta region and granting of amnesty to Niger Delta militants but the upsurge of oil theft in recent times clearly indicates that success has not been achieved, hence some recommendations were proffered to put an end to oil theft in the Niger Delta region. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n3s2p563
Highlights
Oil is unarguably the lifeblood of modern economy and it has become the most essential commodity in the world
While the first is less significant in that it is conducted by local people who hide under the cover of violence in the Niger Delta region, the second category brings more technical sophistication into the business with the stolen product placed in small barges and taken straight into the sea where it is loaded into larger barges in return for money and weapons used to fuel violence, while the last category speaks solely about a spoilt system facilitated by official corruption in that it involves the use of forged bills of lading, “issued by a carrier to a shipper, listing and acknowledging receipt of goods for transport and specifying terms of delivery.”
In order to put a stop to oil theft and illegal bunkering, the Nigerian government increased its military presence in the Niger Delta in 2003; this culminated in the deployment of a Joint Task Force (JTF) in 2008 (Tomas, 2010)
Summary
Oil is unarguably the lifeblood of modern economy and it has become the most essential commodity in the world. Despite the efforts of the Federal government to curtail the illegal diversion of oil in the Niger Delta by increasing its security spending in recent years and devoting millions of naira annually to hire private security firms as well as equipping men and officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), incessant destruction of pipelines and other oil facilities across the country as well as trade in stolen oil by criminal cartels with international connections have continued unabated (Ugwuanyi, 2013; Mernyi, 2014) This shows that, the huge investments of public funds on the safety of oil facilities have not yielded the required results. Why has there be persistent increase of oil theft activities in the Niger Delta in recent times? Who are the perpetrators of oil theft? What are the implications of oil theft in the Niger Delta? What has the government done to put an end to the menace? These are myriad of questions that need to be explored
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