Authorities in Rivers State’s Tai Local Government Area claim to have found a pipeline that illegal refineries used to steal crude oil in the state’s Nonwa-Uedume community.
Mbakpone Okpe, the executive chairman of the state’s Tai LGA, revealed this to journalists. Okpe claimed that a tip-off led to the illegal pipeline’s discovery on a facility run by major oil and gas company Shell Petroleum Development Company.
The owners aren’t coming forward to accept responsibility, so I cannot risk using my personnel and resources to find this, he said. How will we respond to this in order to let those who are engaging in this activity know that there are owners and the owners are protecting their property?”
While decrying the continued stealing of the nation’s crude oil, the council boss said the problem had lingered due to the failure of the Federal Government to engage people with the expertise to secure the pipelines.