Nigeria to prosecute 500 over oil theft

Nigeria will prosecute 500 people suspected of stealing oil from the country’s underground pipelines, an official says.

The governor of Delta state, Emmanuel Uduaghan, said Thursday that the government was preparing cases against members of oil gangs who are accused of siphoning off hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day – about a fifth of the total output of oil in Nigeria.

An estimated 400,000 barrels a day has been lost to oil thieves, amounting to approximately seven billion dollars in lost revenue annually.

Experts say about 90 percent of the stolen oil is sold on to international markets, while the rest remains for local consumption.

The Nigerian government has tasked Governor Godswill Akpabio of the southern state of Akwa Ibom to spearhead a committee to find solutions to the massive theft of crude oil.

“The resolutions included that a legal task force… be set up immediately to commence prosecution of proven cases, using relevant laws,” Uduaghan said.

If convicted, oil thieves may receive a sentence of 21 years in prison.

Africa’s most populous country has fallen into a state of disarray over the past years, as residents of Delta justified the lack of development and environmental devastation in the region to help themselves to a share of Nigeria’s vast oil wealth.