Nigerian investigative journalist Fisayo Soyombo has raised alarms about the type of security support being provided to illegal oil bunkers in the country.
During an appearance on Arise TV’s morning show, Soyombo, who is also the founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), revealed that he was conducting an undercover investigation when he was detained by the Nigerian Army.
While acknowledging that there are honorable members within the military, Soyombo stressed the urgent need to address the role of saboteurs who facilitate the thriving illegal oil bunkering trade.
He further emphasized that those involved in the oil theft are not limited to the bunkers themselves, but also include individuals in charge of overseeing the sector, calling for a complete overhaul of the system.
He said, “It would shock you the kind of people who escort illegal oil bunkers out of Port-Harcourt.
“The army spokesman already compromised my security by going online to say that they found illegal bunkers.
“There are clean men in the military but we need to clean up the saboteurs who enable oil bunkerers to thrive.
“This is a new level for me that I need to do it. Rather than change approach, I will rather stop, maybe I have one, two, three under-cover investigations and I will stop.
“It is not the fun of it but the situations we found ourselves. Imagine the story I did on smugglers. People have to know that in their country they can be safe, and we need to expose these wrongdoings.
“The figure being put out in terms of Crude oil theft are an underestimation of what’s happening. The Crude we were to move was for 50,000 barrel, if the man who got annoyed that he wasn’t bribed didn’t talk, we would have had two trucks move out. There is no institution that can say for a fact the barrels are being lifted daily.”