The Nigerian Navy says it is being blackmailed and misrepresented by mischief-makers who benefit from crude oil theft.

Pix; Navy’s Chief of Training and Operations (CTOPs), Rear Admiral Eugenio Olusegun Ferreira

The Nigerian Navy has affirmed that its operatives, within four years, have destroyed 1,528 illegal refineries, apprehended 392 oil thieves, and seized over 8.1 million barrels of stolen crude.”

Also about 120 barges, 181 speed boats, 1,453 wooden boats laden with stolen products as well as 118 vehicles conveying stolen petroleum products were arrested during the period under review.

The Navy’s Chief of Training and Operations (CTOPs), Rear Admiral Eugenio Olusegun Ferreira, announced this at a press briefing at the Naval Headquarters, Abuja, on Monday.

Rear Admiral Ferreira said some notable arrests were that of MT SWEET MIRI and MT VILLANIRIS 1 both laden with a combined quantity of 4 million litres of stolen crude oil.

He said: “Anti-oil theft operations remain the Navy’s most critical function due to the contribution of oil revenue to Nigeria’s economic survival. However, some unpatriotic elements are determined to plunder the country’s oil resources for personal gains through oil theft and other acts of economic sabotage.

“Over the years, the Nigerian Navy implemented measures to address the scourge of oil theft. These include intelligence-led patrols, robust Maritime Domain Awareness, and the Choke Point Management and Control regime involving the deployment of Naval Security Stations at strategic choke points within the creeks to deny oil thieves freedom of action.

“In view of its transnational nature, the fight against oil theft also involves collaboration with our neighbours such as Cameroon, Benin and Togo who assisted in the apprehension of vessels such as MT NEW ANGEL and MT JASMINE involved in crude oil theft.

“In November 2024, as part of its regional efforts to enhance maritime security, the Nigerian Navy hosted Exercises CROCODILE LIFT and GRAND AFRICAN NEMO which are multinational exercises involving Nigerian Navy Ships, boats, and aircraft as well as ships from regional navies and partners such as France, UK, and Spain. The exercises were geared toward enhancing our international partnership and collaboration to curb maritime crimes in the Gulf of Guinea.

“The Nigerian Navy also has a transparent process of working with industry regulators such as NUPRC, NMDPRA, NIMASA, and NNPCL in the monitoring and enforcement of approvals granted to operators to lift crude oil and other refined products. This enables the Nigerian Navy to ensure compliance for legitimate upstream and downstream operations on behalf of the regulators. Nigerian Navy efforts have greatly curbed oil theft and led to a significant increase in Nigeria’s daily crude oil production output from 1.23 million barrels in October 2022 to 1.8 million barrels in October 2024 as revealed by the NUPRC.

“The positive outcome of the Nigerian Navy’s anti-crude oil operations is also evident in the Trans – Forcados and Trans-Niger pipelines which have continued to report about 100 percent terminal factor in the past few months. Furthermore, recall that in 2022, the Nigerian Navy succeeded in eradicating piracy in Nigerian waters, and Nigeria was delisted from the International Maritime Bureau List of piracy-prone countries.”

But Rear Admiral Ferreira said despite these feats by the Navy there have been misrepresentations in certain quarters aimed at tarnishing its reputation. He blamed this on some individuals involved in oil theft and whose activities were severely disrupted by the Navy.

He, however, said that despite the disruptions by these “unpatriotic elements”, the Navy has remained critical in the success of several strategic initiatives such as the Presidential Crude Oil Barging Regime.

He said: “For instance, an alarm of crude oil theft on MT PRAISEL in August 2023 at Escravos in which the Navy was alleged to have been involved was proven to be false. Similarly, on May 3, 2024, another false allegation led to the disruption of the operations of MT PRESTIGIOUS and MT MONTAGU involved in the Presidential Crude Oil Barging Operations at Bonny. These disruptions resulted in the loss of over 1.2 million barrels of crude oil with the attendant reduction in revenues during the period of their arrest between 4 – 16 May 2024.

“Also, on Nov 7, 2024, based on credible intelligence, a barge suspected to be involved in oil theft was arrested in Warri by Nigerian Navy personnel. Also, on 10 Nov 24, MT LADY MARTINA conveying HPFO to MT JASMINES involved in Presidential Crude Oil Barging Operations at Bonny was alleged to have stolen crude oil. The Nigerian Navy conducted a series of tests which confirmed the product onboard to be HPFO as approved by regulatory authorities.

“These false accusations were not backed by evidence but primarily designed to tarnish the image of the Nigerian Navy and dampen the morale of personnel involved in anti-oil theft operations.

“In addition, the perpetrators of these false alarms inflict unwarranted disruptions in legitimate business in the oil industry. This is detrimental to the ease of doing business in Nigeria’s oil sector and negates Mr President’s desire to increase investment in the oil industry.”