• HURIWA backs NNPCL, military onslaught on criminal networks
Robotics and renewable energy expert, Prof Godswill Ofualagba, has urged the Federal Government to deploy smart technologies in solving the perennial pipeline vandalism and oil theft crisis in the Niger Delta region.
This was as the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) noted that oil theft syndicates and criminal networks had long diverted Nigeria’s valuable natural resources, affecting the country’s economic stability.
Ofualagba, therefore, urged the government to deploy the ‘Automated Oil and Gas Pipeline Vandalisation Detection System’, which he developed with colleagues, to curb the perennial oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta region.
Delivering the 7th inaugural lecture at the Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE), Effurun, Delta State, with the title, ‘The Tripod of Renewables, Robotics and Automation: The Uncovered, the Discovered and the Recovered’, the don said Nigeria was losing over $11 million daily from oil theft, proffering that high tech should be deployed in oil pipeline surveillance.
He described the pipeline vandalism detection system as a game-changer in the battle against oil theft, as it can detect earth disturbances during pipeline vandalism in real time and alert monitoring stations and mobile phones.
“According to Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Nigeria is losing S11 million daily, $349 million monthly and $4.2 billion yearly to pipeline vandalism.
“The Automated Oil and Gas Pipeline Vandalisation Detection System works by detecting the earth vibration signals unique to ground digging by pipeline vandals, using custom-designed Sensing Units (SUs) buried underground, 200 metres apart, above the buried pipeline,” he explained.
HURIWA praised the intensified efforts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in tackling crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, particularly in the Niger Delta. At a briefing in Abuja, the National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, commended the coordinated approach adopted by security agencies, stressing that such collaboration with the NNPCL was essential in curbing the widespread theft of Nigeria’s crude oil.
The group emphasised that the collaboration between the NNPCL and security agencies demonstrated a strong commitment to safeguarding the country’s oil infrastructure, a critical asset to the economy. Onwubiko said it was important that the NNPCL was partnering with various security agencies in targeting and dismantling high-profile oil theft syndicates.
The association also called for the prosecution of arrested suspects, insisting that they be treated as economic saboteurs and given stiff sentences to deter further criminal activity.
