As controversy trails alleged issuance of bunkering permit by the Nigerian Navy, following stakeholders in the Nigerian maritime industry describing it as an aberration, the Nigerian Navy has clarified issues surrounding the matter.
Speaking at the Lagos International Maritime Week, Commodore Igbani Agwu, General Manager, Planning of the Nigerian Navy, said the Navy had to come to issuance of bunkering permit because the space had to be regulated due to the unwholesome activities being experienced in that sector.
Agwu also said the Navy had to come into the issuance of bunkering permit because Nigeria is the only country in the world where oil theft occurs, hence the Naval intervention.
However, some stakeholders who spoke on the matter debunked the claims by the Navy, saying that crude oil theft occurs all over the world but that the Navies of other countries are not involved in the commercial activities of their shipping industries.
A member of the Nigerian Ship Owners Association (NISA), who pleaded anonymity, said Nigerian Navy’s involvement in the issuance of bunkering permit can only be permissible in Nigeria because of the entrenched interest the Navy, as an institution, has in commercial shipping activities.
The NISA member also said that oil theft takes place in Mexico, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Cameroon, Sudan and other parts of the world.
Also commenting, the President of the Nigerian Master Mariners Association, Capt Tajudeen Alao, argued that before the Nigerian Navy started the issuance of bunkering permit, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCD) was solely in charge of such issuance.
Alao explained that the Navy got involved because of the abuse of the entire process of issuing bunkering permits and approvals, adding that the Navy is also put in charge of economic breaches on the nation’s waters.
He said: “The process of issuing bunkering approval is not an easy procedure. The approval is first given to the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), who in turn sends the approval to the Headquarters of the Nigerian Navy in Abuja before permit is finally granted to the applicant,
“I agree that there is oil theft in some parts of the world, but our own situation is worse than what is obtainable elsewhere.
“All those areas you just mentioned do not have creeks like we have in Nigeria. Even with the kind of measure the government has put in place, oil theft is still going on, oil pipelines are still being broken.
“Crude oil theft is an international crime, because it is big business and the people involved are ready to invest anything, money, blackmail in order to achieve their aim’’.