Oil marketers fault burning of recovered petroleum products

Chigozie, who expressed concern through a phone conversation from Owerri, Imo State capital, expressed worries that the action has multiple consequences on both the economy and the environment.

According to him, burning trucks and products whenever oil thieves are apprehended amounts to poor economic decision. Chigozie said: “The product is presumably government property, and the same government has been complaining of inability of meeting its daily production target due to activities of oil thieves. Why then do security agents destroy products and tanks after recovering such from criminals?”

Chigozie admonished that rather than destroy products, they can be taken back to government refineries or private modular refineries for refinement and have them ploughed back into the value chain.

He also suggested that impounded trucks or tankers could be legally acquired for government use through court processes for forfeiture.

He noted that Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) could buy off the trucks and use them in petroleum product distribution to its retail outlets.

“It is on record that NNPC engages the services of fleet managers to run its distributions. Huge amount of money is paid out to owners of trucks at the end of the day. So, rather than destroy the trucks, it can be put to effective use by government.”

“Government is talking about loss of revenue. What then is the right thing to do after apprehending perpetrators of oil theft? Destruction of the product is crude way of fighting crimes. That is not how best to punish perpetrators,” he said.

Chigozie also expressed worries that the process contributes largely to environmental degradation. He, therefore, charged government to do the right thing by saving the environment.