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Oil Bunkering: Security Agencies’ Involvement Frustrates Govt Efforts, Wike Laments

Published

4 years ago

March 11, 2022

Editor

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has said the Nigeria’s economy will remain vulnerable and weak if illegal bunkering and artisanal refining of crude oil continues unabated, alleging that security agencies are involved in the act of criminality.

Wike made the observation at the commissioning and presentation of 14 ballistic gunboats, donated by the Rivers State Government, to the Nigerian Navy, Army, Police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, at NNS Pathfinder, Naval Base, Rumuolumeni in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, on Friday.

The governor said the seeming frustration in the fight against illegal refining of crude oil was caused by security personnel who were deeply involved in the illegal activity or providing cover for the criminals.

Wike’s assertation was contained in a statement signed by his media aide, Kelvin Ebiri, and made available to newsmen.

“Most of the problem we have with illegal oil bunkering is that security agencies are fully involved in this illegal oil bunkering.

“That’s the truth. Civil Defence is involved. Army is involved. Police is involved. Navy is involved. Let us tell ourselves the simple truth,” Wike stated.

He explained that the Oil and Gas sector was the mainstay of the nation’s economy and Nigerians owe it as a duty to ensure that the country’s economy is salvaged.

“All of us owe it a duty to see how we can salvage this country. 80 per cent of the revenue of this country comes from oil and if we cannot reduce or stop this illegal oil bunkering, this country is in for problem. And so, we must all work together to help this country,” he added.

He said his administration has remained committed to the fight against illegal bunkering and achieved tremendous results leading to reduced soot and oil theft.

Governor Wike said, instead of the Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation commending the Rivers State Government for the feat, which has made oil production level go up, he should rather discharge requisite corporate social responsibility due Rivers State similar to what NNPC is doing elsewhere.

The governor dismissed notions in some quarters that governors put their state’s security vote in personal pockets.

According to him, provision of gunboats, other equipment and logistics to the security agencies to strengthen their capacity to fight crime and criminality are evidence of how the security vote is being deployed.

He charged the security agencies to confine the use of the gunboats to Rivers State for which they were provided to tackle the menace of sea piracy and illegal bunkering activities.

Commissioning the 14 ballistic gunboats, the Chief of Naval Staff , Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, said maritime terrorism, oil theft and piracy are major challenges that the Navy has continued to confront concertedly.

Gambo, who said Nigeria has exited the International Maritime Bureau global list of countries prone to piracy, thanked the governor for the donation.

He said Governor Wike’s initiative in the war against artisanal refining activities has given more impetus to the security agencies to brace up to the fight.

The CNS said there was need to emulate Wike, who has mustered the political will to wage war against operators of illegal refineries, with the support of Local Government chairmen who have identified and destroyed bunkering sites and arrested some perpetrators.

On his part, the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Naval Command, Rear Admiral I.A. Dewu, lauded the governor for the donation, which he noted will complement the Navy’s efforts to eradicate illegal oil bunkering and refining in the state and the entire Niger Delta.

Headline

US Revokes Visas Of Foreigners Who Mocked Kirk’s Assassination

Published

2 days ago

October 15, 2025

Editor

The United States has revoked the visas of several foreign nationals who publicly mocked or celebrated the killing of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk, officials confirmed on Tuesday.

The State Department said the decision followed an internal review of social media posts deemed “offensive and contrary to U.S. values,” adding that the country “has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans.”

Kirk, 31, co-founder of the conservative youth group Turning Point USA and a strong ally of former President Donald Trump, was shot dead during a political rally on 10 September.

His killing drew widespread condemnation across the political spectrum, with many describing the act as a targeted attack on free speech.

According to U.S. authorities, at least six individuals from Argentina, South Africa, Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico, and Germany had their visas revoked after making comments online that celebrated Kirk’s murder or insulted his supporters.

Examples cited by officials included posts calling Kirk a racist who deserved it, and messages mocking grieving Americans.

“We will not tolerate foreigners who promote or celebrate acts of violence against U.S. citizens,” a State Department spokesperson said.

The move underscores Washington’s growing use of immigration powers to respond to online behaviour perceived as threatening or disrespectful towards the country.

The Department said it continues to monitor social media content for evidence of incitement or endorsement of violence.
Civil liberties advocates, however, have questioned the decision, arguing that revoking visas for social media comments could set a worrying precedent.

Officials maintained that the visa cancellations were lawful, limited in scope, and aimed at protecting national integrity.

“Freedom of speech does not extend to foreigners seeking the privilege of entry while glorifying violence,” the spokesperson added.

The United States has increased visa scrutiny in recent years, requiring applicants to disclose social media handles and online activity.

The policy, officials say, is designed to prevent extremist sympathisers or those expressing hostility towards the country from entering its borders

Headline

Israeli PM Netanyahu Back In Court For Graft Trial

Published

2 days ago

October 15, 2025

Editor

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was back in a Tel Aviv court on Wednesday for the latest hearing in his long-running corruption trial, which opened in May 2020.

The prime minister kept a smiling face as he and his entourage of several ministers from his conservative Likud party were heckled by protesters en route to the tribunal.

It comes after US President Donald Trump suggested on Monday that the Israeli premier should be pardoned in his three separate corruption cases.

His latest appearance at the Tel Aviv court also follows the return of the hostages taken by Hamas as part of Trump’s US-brokered plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

In one case, Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are accused of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods, including champagne, cigars and jewellery, from billionaires in exchange for political favours.

In two other instances, Netanyahu is also charged with attempting to negotiate better press coverage from two Israeli media outlets. He has denied any wrongdoing, claiming to be the victim of a political plot.

During his current term, which started in late 2022, Netanyahu has proposed far-reaching judicial reforms that critics say sought to weaken the courts.

Those prompted massive protests that only abated after the onset of the Gaza war, sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

In an address on Monday to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, Trump told the chamber that Netanyahu should receive a pardon in the graft cases.

“Cigars and champagne, who the hell cares about that?” Trump joked, before asking his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog: “Why don’t you give him a pardon?”

The Israeli premier is also subject to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on suspicion of ordering war crimes in his government’s assault on Hamas militants in Gaza.

Netanyahu holds the record for the most years spent at the head of Israel’s government, having served 18 years in several stints as premier since 1996.

AFP

Headline

FULL LIST: US Set To Carry Out Four Executions This Week

Published

2 days ago

October 15, 2025

Editor

A Florida man convicted of murdering two women he hired for sex was put to death by lethal injection on Tuesday, one of four executions to be carried out in the United States this week.

Samuel Smithers, 72, was sentenced to death in 1999 for the 1996 killings of Christy Cowan and Denise Roach in Tampa. They had been beaten and strangled and their bodies were found in a pond.

Smithers was executed at a Florida state prison at 6:15 pm (2215 GMT), the 14th execution in the southern state this year.

Another convicted murderer was also put to death by lethal injection in the midwestern state of Missouri on Tuesday.

The execution of Lance Shockley, 48, was carried out at 6:13 pm (2313 GMT) for the 2005 murder of a police sergeant, Carl Graham.

Graham was gunned down in an ambush at his home. The officer had been investigating a fatal car accident involving Shockley at the time.

Shockley maintained his innocence but his appeals were rejected by numerous courts, including the Supreme Court. Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe rejected his clemency request on Monday.

Two other executions are scheduled this week.

Charles Crawford, 59, is to be put to death by lethal injection in Mississippi on Wednesday for the 1994 rape and murder of Kristy Ray, a 20-year-old college student.

Richard Djerf, 55, is to be executed by lethal injection in Arizona on Friday for the brutal 1993 murders of four members of a Phoenix family.

In a letter last month apologizing for the crime, Djerf said he was ready to die and would not seek clemency.

“If I can’t find reason to spare my life, what reason would anyone else have?” he wrote.

There have been 37 executions in the United States this year, the most since 2013, when 39 inmates were put to death.

Florida has carried out the most executions with 14, followed by Texas with five and South Carolina and Alabama with four.

Thirty-one of this year’s executions have been carried out by lethal injection, two by firing squad and four by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.

The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.

President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and, on his first day in office, called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”