Last Thursday, representatives of the Nigerian military stated that the military had destroyed 13 illegal refineries in the oil hub located in the Niger Delta. Two soldiers were killed in the attacks upon what were described as “sea robbers”. A spokesman for the military, Major Abubakar Abdullahi, said soldiers had “discovered and destroyed 13 illegal refineries” while patrolling on the Iyalama Adama axis of Rivers state on Wednesday. The Major further added that two soldiers were killed in the Rivers state in the general area of Ijawkiri on Wednesday.
Unfortunately this appears to be just a drop in the proverbial oil barrel as military authorities estimated there are hundreds of illegal refineries in the area which process crude oil stolen from energy company pipelines. The navy chief of Nigeria has previously stated that 181 illegal refineries were destroyed last year. During the course of these raids, 748 suspects were arrested and in excess of $1.3 billion worth of crude oil and fuel were confiscated. These latest closures add to the string of 50 illegal refineries which were shut down in the beginning of 2017.
The effect of these illegal refineries goes beyond just an economic effect, oil companies have claimed that armed gangs illegally breaking into pipelines and setting up these refineries are responsible for 99% of the oil spillage in the region. These oil spills which have contaminated the ground water in several communities have been the source of a great deal of international attention. Amnesty International has reported that little progress has been made in solving this issue despite the involvement of The Nigerian government, Royal Dutch Shell, and Nigeria’s state owned oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.
Recently the government of Nigeria stated its plans to legalize illicit refineries as part of an attempt to bring an end the cycle of violence and corruption which plague the oil producing region. When the plans will go into begin or what effect last weeks raids will have upon them is unclear. Illegal refineries support tens of thousands of people locally.
This conflict of interests has created a hostile atmosphere between the government in local residents. An uneasy peace is still holding while the government holds negotiations with communities and community leaders. Many of these communities contain some of the same militants whose attacks last year cut Nigerian oil production dramatically. These attacks were quite serious, and some estimates state the attacks could have decreased oil sales by as much as one third. The Nigerian Government is dependent upon oil sales which provide two thirds of the government’s revenue.
Nigeria which is Africa’s most populous nation and a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is often a key player in African politics. This makes it all the more troubling that Nigeria which has the largest economy in Africa went into a recession last year for the first time in a quarter of a century. This recession had several causes, but the largest and most prominent of these were low oil prices and the impact which militant attacks had upon the local economy.
