Issue licenses to avoid activities of illegal oil bunkering, Reps urge FG

The House of Representatives on Tuesday advised the Federal Government to issue licenses to avoid the activities of illegal oil bunkering in Nigeria. To this end, the House urged Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority to review existing licenses for modular refineries to enable their cancellation, renewal or addition as the case may be. The as advised that licenses should be granted for the establishment of modular refineries in a bid to curb the proliferation of illegal refineries in the Niger Delta. The lawmakers while in session mandated its Committees on Police Affairs, Navy, Army, Defense and Interior to investigate the alleged involvement of security agencies in the illegal oil refining in the Niger Delta. It mandated the Inspector General of Police and other relevant security agencies to immediately clampdown on the activities of these illegal refineries in the Niger Delta region of the country and prosecute those found culpable. The House also mandated the Federal Ministries of Petroleum Resources and Environment to urgently develop and implement modalities to clear off the soot currently experienced in Rivers State and other parts of the Niger Delta Region as a result of the activities of illegal refineries. The House Committees on Host Communities and Downstream were mandated to ensure compliance and report back to the House in six weeks. These resolutions followed a motion of urgent importance on the need to curb the activities of illegal crude oil refineries in the Niger Delta region to end the soot currently experienced in the region. The motion was moved by Rep. Unyime Idem who represents Ukanafun/Oruk Anam Federal Constituency in Akwa Ibom State. The House said it was aware that section 44 (3) and item 39 Schedule II of the Exclusive Legislative List of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) vests the control and management of natural resources and hydrocarbon operations on the Federal Government for the common good and benefit of the citizens. The House added it was also aware that the economy of Nigeria has over the years been premeditated and totally dependent on oil from the Niger Delta Region of the Country. It was concerned that the Niger Delta region of the country has over the years been plagued by the activities of illegal oil refineries at the detriment of the lives of residents and the economy of the country. “These activities have compounded the age-long problem of environmental pollution and degradation caused by the seismic and exploration activities of the multinational oil companies operating in Niger Delta; contributing to the dramatic changes in the weather pattern being experienced in the region,” the lawmakers said. The House was concerned that these illegal activities have sabotaged economic activities of residents of the area, caused severe health hazards on citizens, robbed the country of critical revenue, and aggravated the problem of pollution in the region. It was worried that a particular case is the soot currently suffered by citizens and residents of Rivers State and the environs in the last three years, as a result of incomplete burning of organic matter by these illegal refiners. It was disappointed that some security agencies and some influential individuals have been alleged of complicity in the activities of these illegal refineries in the Niger Delta region of the Country. The House worried that if this trend continues unabated, the Niger Delta Region will be at health risk and economic activities will crumble.