Maritime Editors Say ‘Elite-Driven Oil Theft Threatening Nigeria’s Economy’

…Demands Urgent Action

BY KESIENNA SHEPHERDS

Nigeria’s crude oil sector, the backbone of the nation’s economy has once again come under scrutiny as allegations of elite complicity in oil theft and sabotage reverberating across the Niger Delta has come under focus. The League of Maritime Editors (LOME), in a strongly worded ‘State of the Nation’ address, raised alarm over what it describes as a “well-organized crime” draining the nation’s resources and undermining its economic stability.

Elite Involvement in Oil Theft

The controversy, LOME says was reignited by His Royal Majesty, Felix Otuwarikpo, traditional ruler of Upata Kingdom in Ahoada East, Rivers State. Speaking at the 2026 Press Week of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Rivers Council, Otuwarikpo accused the Nigerian elite of sponsoring crude oil theft.

“The elite sponsor people to indulge in pipelines vandalism at the community level, so we should begin to look beyond blaming poverty and illiteracy,” he declared. “We should broaden our assertions to include elite class involvement in order to find lasting solutions.”

His remarks, the maritime editors averred were echoed by former Edo State Governor and current Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, who alleged on the Senate floor that retired senior military officers are among those behind oil theft in the Niger Delta.

Economic Toll of Crude Oil Theft

It will be recalled that crude oil theft and vandalism have long been a drag on Nigeria’s economic growth. The country, once capable of producing over two million barrels per day, now struggles to maintain a routine output above 1.5 million barrels per day.

Under former NNPCL Group Managing Director Mele Kyari, production stagnated at between 1.3 and 1.4 million barrels per day, a trend that has persisted under his successor. Despite renewed policing of pipelines, Nigeria has consistently failed to meet its OPEC quota of 1.5 million barrels per day.

The 2026 federal budget, however, is predicated on a production benchmark of 1.84 million barrels per day (including condensates), a target that appears increasingly unrealistic, which concerns greatly worries the veteran maritime journalists.

LOME noted that in 2025, Nigeria only met or marginally exceeded its quota in a handful of months, January, June, and July, while falling short for the rest of the year. The group submitted that in early 2026, production hovered between 1.3 and 1.45 million barrels per day, far below expectations.

Governance Failures and Security Concerns

Deeply concerned about the sad development, the League criticised the government’s decision under former President Muhammadu Buhari to outsource pipeline security to Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL), technically sidelining the Nigerian Navy, which has constitutional responsibility for policing Nigeria’s waterways.

Although Tantita has presented a scorecard of its operations, concerns still hangs heavy in the air, as international incidents have raised questions about its effectiveness. In December 2025, the US Coast Guard intercepted the supertanker Skipper, suspected of crude oil theft, with links to Nigeria-based Thomarose Global Ventures Ltd. Till date, no Nigerian agency including Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), or the Nigerian Navy, has issued any official statement on the matter.

Lamenting, LOME said: “No one is asking the NNPCL, NIMASA, Navy or Tantita questions, yet taxpayers’ money and oil revenues are used to fund these organisations.”

Call for Accountability and Reform

The League of Maritime Editors insists that crude oil theft cannot be perpetrated by “poor and uneducated people” but is instead a sophisticated operation backed by powerful elites.

While advocating stringent measures to sanction verified internal compromise and or intolerable negligence, it has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to restore the Navy’s role in policing territorial waters and oil infrastructure; working alongside agencies such as the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Department of State Security, and the Nigerian Air Force.

Warning, LOME in its State of the Nation address said: “The present Gestapo tactics used in preventing crude oil theft are short-term measures. No serious country leaves its critical infrastructure in the hands of private organisations as compromise is certain.”

The League further urged the creation of a special commission or court, backed by an Act of Parliament, to prosecute individuals involved in crude oil theft and economic sabotage.

“In the same vein, the Nigeria Navy should be more responsive and accountable to issues of crude oil theft and other marine economic crimes. Indeed, there should be laws that compel its leadership to cede office in the face of proven negligence, conspiracy, inability or incapacity associated with crude smuggling.”

The Bigger Picture

The League emphasized that while Nigeria loses trillions of naira annually to crude oil theft, it is a crime that not only erodes government revenue but also damages the environment and deters investment in the oil sector. With the economy heavily reliant on oil exports, the inability to meet production targets poses a serious risk to fiscal stability; the group averred.

As Otuwarikpo and Oshiomhole’s allegations highlight, the problem is not merely one of infrastructure or poverty but of entrenched elite interests. Leagues position is that until accountability is enforced and systemic reforms are implemented, Nigeria’s oil sector will remain vulnerable to sabotage, with devastating consequences for the nation’s economy.