Nigerian investigative journalist Fisayo Soyombo has raised concerns about the type of security support available to illegal oil bunkers in the country.
Speaking on Arise TV’s morning show, the founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) revealed that he was conducting an undercover investigation when he was arrested by the Nigerian Army.
Soyombo acknowledged that while there are upright members within the military, there is a pressing need to address the actions of saboteurs who enable illegal oil bunkering to flourish.
According to the journalist, it is not only oil bunkers that are thieves but also those who are meant to supervise the sector, adding that “What we would need is an overhaul of the system.”
He said, “It would shock you the kind of people who escort illegal oil bunkers out of Port-Harcourt.
“The army spokesman already compromised my security by going online to say that they found illegal bunkers.
“There are clean men in the military but we need to clean up the saboteurs who enable oil bunkerers to thrive.
“This is a new level for me that I need to do it. Rather than change approach, I will rather stop, maybe I have one, two, three under-cover investigations and I will stop.
“It is not the fun of it but the situations we found ourselves. Imagine the story I did on smugglers. People have to know that in their country they can be safe, and we need to expose these wrongdoings.
“The figure being put out in terms of Crude oil theft are an underestimation of what’s happening. The Crude we were to move was for 50,000 barrel, if the man who got annoyed that he wasn’t bribed didn’t talk, we would have had two trucks move out. There is no institution that can say for a fact the barrels are being lifted daily.”
