Special Courts Will Check Oil Theft -JTF

The Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, known as Operation Pulo Shield, on Wednesday lauded the idea of establishing a special court to try oil thieves in the region.
The National Economic Council last month approved the establishment of a special court to try suspected oil thieves with existing legislation to expedite prosecution of suspects.
The JTF spokesman, Lt.-Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, made the commendation in an interview with newsmen in Yenagoa.
He said that the special court was a welcome development, adding that it would support the efforts of JTF to rid the region of oil thieves.
He said that the slow judicial process in the country was a clog in the wheel of progress in the JTF’s fight against the menace of oil theft.
He said that most suspects awaiting trial returned to the crime shortly after they were granted bail.
“It is, indeed, a welcome development in as much as it will expedite the trial of oil theft suspects and really give them the deserved penalties and put them away for a long while.
“If this really happens, it will amount to a very positive deviation from the past when arrested oil thieves make a mockery of our effort.
“This is because they know that they will be left off the hook soon as we hand them over for prosecution. Our efforts will no longer amount to futility,” he said.
The spokesman said that the task force recently participated in the anti-oil theft interactive forum,  organised by the Bayelsa Government.
He said the forum, which the government organised in collaboration with other stakeholders, was designed to work out more modalities to tackle oil theft in the state.
Nwachukwu said the forum identified logistic challenges faced by JTF and other security agencies and highlighted possible areas of collaboration.