Most of the Stolen Crude Oil found in Churches, Mosques – Mele Kyari

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, has accused government officials, religious leaders, security agencies and even some NNPC staff of the theft of the nation’s crude oil. This was according to a statement by NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari at the 49th session of the weekly ministerial briefing at the State House in Abuja.

He insisted that oil theft is largely carried out by Nigerians and are mostly found in churches and mosques adding that there has been a network of vandals working in collaboration with others to continue stealing oil.

“When a fire outbreak happened in one of our pipelines, we discovered that some of the pipelines were actually connected to individuals’ homes. And not only that, and with all sensitivity to our religious beliefs, you know, some of the pipelines and some of the products that we found, are actually in churches and in mosques,” Kyari said.

“That means that everybody is involved. There is no way you will take products, bring them in trucks in populated neighborhoods, load them, and leave without everybody else knowing about it. Everybody includes members of the community, members of the religious leaders and also and most likely government officials of all natures, including security agencies personnel.

“They are everywhere. And I’ve seen this even in the Niger Delta. There’s no way you would deliver a volume and lose up to 30 percent and you will continue to put those products in this line.”