Abuja, Nigeria — Nigerian authorities in oil-rich Rivers State unveiled on Friday six military-grade gunboats to help security agents battle the piracy and oil theft that have plagued the Niger Delta region for decades. The latest measure is part of a broader crackdown aiming at boosting Nigeria's oil production.
Local singers and dancers enthralled hundreds of delegates at the ceremony marking the handover of six military gunboats to Nigeria's navy in southern Rivers State.
It's the latest effort by state authorities to support a national crackdown on oil thieves and to check piracy along the waterways in the Niger Delta.
Officials said the boats will bolster the navy's ability to patrol and respond to threats, especially near submerged oil export pipelines, which are often prone to attacks by thieves.
Siminalayi Fubara is the Rivers State governor.
"We're doing logistics support to the Nigerian navy, who are the closest agency that can battle the ones off the land," said Fubara. "It's a big problem. When you see the technology involved in the lines, you'd see that it's not small engineering, it's a professional thing."
Nigeria has long declared a war on crude oil theft, but the problem has continued to cut into the government's income and disrupt exports.
Authorities estimate the country loses $10 billion every year, or the equivalent of about 200,000 barrels of oil per day, to illegal actors.
Corruption, lack of security, and poor regulation have hindered authorities' ability to effectively curb the problem.
Fubara said in addition to heightening security measures, state authorities will expand investments in infrastructure, health care and education in local communities most prone to oil theft to dissuade them from the practice.
"This problem is not just a problem that attacking those people on the field can solve," said Fubara. "What we need is a total reorientation. You need to engage them."
The state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company said this week that 94 incidents of crude oil theft occurred between November 30 and December 6.
On Thursday, the Nigerian military said its 90-day Operation Delta Safe, a program that aimed to reduce oil theft and increase production, was successful upon its conclusion in mid-October.
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Rear Admiral John Okeke is commander of the operation. He spoke to journalists.
"We've been able to arrest, and the appropriate handling of over 300 vehicles comprising trucks, tankers, cars, tricycles conveying crude oil and illegal products," said Okeke. "Similarly, we've been able to handle over 15 million liters of stolen crude oil and about four million liters of illegally refined automotive gasoline oil."
Authorities say Nigeria plans to use drones, automated metering systems and other technology to monitor its oil pipelines next year.
