According to the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) of December for 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, 8560 cases of pipeline vandalism were reported in the last four years. Year in year out, Nigeria loses significant proportions of its oil revenues to this menace that is as old in history as oil drilling in the country.
The NNPC MFOR gives a breakdown of the reported cases experienced for 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. This is shown in the figure below.
The report also identified five plants that were hit by vandals. They are Mosimi, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Warri and Gombe. As seen in the figure above, the highest level of reported vandalism was in 2015 when 2832 cases were reported. There was a subsequent decline in 2016 and 2017 before another leap in the cases of vandalism was reported in 2018.
When analyzed by location, the plant in Port Harcourt suffered more vandalism than other plants in the country and suffered about 50% of the total cases of vandalism within the reporting period. Mosimi and Kaduna ranked next in the vandalism report respectively. The figure below shows the details of the number of pipeline vandalism by location.
Failure to create security checks on the issue of pipeline vandalism in the country has deprived the country of significant revenue. For instance, the 2015 edition of the MFOR reported that N59.71 billion was lost through pipeline vandalism in Nigeria.
Unfortunately, security operatives in the country have not been able to provide significant interventions to curb this menace of pipeline vandalism. Many times, their presence is only felt when the menace has been perpetrated. Vandals often escape without being served justice.
With the significant revenue loss from pipeline vandalism, the federal government needs to pay serious attention to curbing the menace. Efforts should be made to position security agencies to address pipeline vandalism. Similarly, citizens should be enlightened about the detrimental economic and environmental impacts of pipeline vandalism. With this, significant revenue can be generated and channelled into funding some of the deficit in the nation’s budget.