BY Bunmi Aduloju
Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for petroleum resources (oil), has cautioned perpetrators involved in illegal oil bunkering and theft in the Niger Delta to desist from such acts.
Lokpobiri gave the warning during a meeting with leaders of the oil-producing communities, according to a video he shared on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday.
The minister said hydrocarbon resources, including crude oil, belong to the government — not oil thieves.
He said that anytime there is an incidence of an oil spill, the companies usually engage government agencies and affected communities from time to time with a view to finding appropriate compensation for them unless it is sabotage.
“These people who are doing illegal refining every day are vandalising the pipelines with a view to taking crude because of the activities of our own people,” Lokpobiri said.
“And I have told them that we will just kill ourselves and even if you steal all the crude and you refine and you make some money, you can’t feed your community.”
He said in the course of doing the illegal activities, “you have destroyed marine life and an entire ecosystem is famished”.
The minister questioned how people would survive if they were unable to fish and farm.
“I have told people that for now, oil belongs to the federal government but your land and water resources belong to you. So concentrate on that. A bottle of palm oil is more expensive than a litre of oil.”
Lokpobiri urged the host community leaders to educate their residents on the dangers of illegal oil refining.
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