Major General Barry Ndiomu, chairman of the federal government’s special investigative panel on oil theft and losses, has called for a comprehensive review of the security architecture in the oil‑rich Niger Delta. He urged the deployment of modern technology to protect pipelines and advocated legal reforms that would impose harsher penalties on those involved in oil theft.
Nigeria has seen a sharp rise in oil theft in the Niger Delta. In September 2022, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited reported that the country lost 470,000 barrels of crude each month—equating to about $700 million—due to theft. Ndiomu said that revising security measures and legal frameworks would help end this “criminal enterprise.”
Speaking at a panel‑organized parley in Abuja, Ndiomu—who also serves as interim administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme— emphasized the need for “deliberate conversations” to drive legal reforms and tougher sanctions for culpable entities. He highlighted the importance of applying modern technologies to safeguard oil assets and reviewing the region’s security architecture to disrupt the sophisticated network of complicity among host‑community members, security agencies, and industry players. With Nigeria’s crude production falling to a 13‑year low of 800,000 bpd, he stressed that frank discussions are essential to “crack the code” and stop oil theft.
National Security Adviser Major General Babagana Monguno (retired) echoed these concerns, stating that the government is committed to a comprehensive approach to combat oil theft, which he described as arguably the biggest issue facing Nigeria.
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