NNPCL CEO, Mele Kyari, says the continuous vandalisation of the pipelines is causing a huge loss to the company.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) says oil thieves have vandalised over 5,000 kilometers of oil pipelines connecting different parts of the country.
The Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, disclosed this when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) on Tuesday.
PREMIUM TIMES has reported a high rate of pipeline vandalisation across the country. The situation has led to the contamination of the environment including rivers and destruction of many farmlands.
Mr Kyari, while addressing the Senate committee, explained that the company had adopted several measures to secure its pipelines from being vandalised but the oil theft and pipeline vandalisation have persisted.
He said the continuous vandalisation of the pipelines was causing a huge loss to the NNPCL. He described the situation as a 'national calamity'.
"Over 5,000 kilometers of oil pipelines in the country are not working as a result of pipeline vandalism.
"Ten million litres of oil was lost from volume pumped from Aba to Enugu at a time. The company has been unable to pump oil from Warri to Benin within the last 22 years and cannot connect to Ore .
"There is no amount of security measures that had not been taken to curb the crime without success, which to us in NNPCL, is substantially a national calamity," he said .
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Mr Kyari said the NNPCL has started replacing the vandalised pipelines in different parts of the country.
Chairman of the committee, Ifeanyi Ubah, urged the NNPCL to find a lasting solution to the issues of pipeline vandalism and oil thefts.
Mr Ubah advised the NNPCL to increase the security of its pipelines.
A member of the committee, Seriake Dickson (PDP, Bayelsa West) urged the NNPCL to engage the locals in the security surveillance of the pipelines.
Mr Dickson, a former governor of Bayelsa State, advised the NNPCL to award contract to the locals especially in oil producing areas as a way of negotiating the security of pipelines.
"Some local governments in Bayelsa State like Sagbama where I come from, are not covered by the contract with attendant consequences," he said.
