Three Ghanaians, a Nigerian, two Pakistanis, one Indonesian, one Beninois and two Ukrainians have been arrested for stealing two thousand metric tonnes of crude oil.
Military officials in Nigeria on Wednesday said the country’s navy arrested the 10 suspects after intercepting a vessel carrying the stolen crude oil from a loading facility belonging to Shell Petroleum.
Reuters reported that the oil was stolen from the coast of the Niger Delta.
In a statement from the Nigerian Navy, the Navy Commodore Ibrahim Dewu said “The suspects were caught in the early hours of Tuesday while siphoning crude oil into the vessel from Afremo A platform, a loading jacket belonging to the Shell Petroleum and Development Company in Forcados River.”
Stealing of crude oil is a major issue in Nigeria with thieves sometimes damaging pipelines to siphon loaded oil. The act affects the Nigerian government’s effort to get the highest output from its oil production.
Source: Africafeeds.com