The House of Representatives has protested against the repeated destruction of oil and gas pipelines in the country.

Rep. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, The Chairman, Special Committee on Oil Theft, condemned the act in a meeting with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC Ltd. in Abuja.

The purpose of the meeting was to shed light on the cause of oil theft in the country and the possible solution to the menace.

Ado-Doguwa also stated that operating oil and gas pipelines in Nigeria proved to be a difficult challenge, further stressing that the violations do not stop with the pipelines but also at the flow stations, loading, and export terminals

According to the Chairman of Special Committee, the lack of transparency of regulatory activities at the nation’s crude oil export terminals were a cause for attention.

“We are compiling the facts and figures. Instances where approvals are hastily granted to vessels involved in crude theft just to cover official complicity are reported.

He also added that “incidences of undeclared liftings are noted, and all these and several other infractions, particularly in our offshore marine environment, contribute to the huge volume of crude oil theft being reported.”

Simultaneously, the Group Managing Director, NNPC Ltd., Mr Mele Kyari, revealed that no fewer than 9000 infractions on its pipeline were recorded in one year.

He further stated that between 2022 to date, the corporation had 6,465 illegal refineries, while 4,876 illegal connections to a pipeline were removed out of the 5,570 that were discovered.