An inter-ministerial committee has been inaugurated by the Federal Government to tackle the illegal refining of crude oil in the Niger Delta.
Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, said at the inauguration of the committee on Thursday in Abuja that the mandate of the committee is for “the recovery of illegally-refined petroleum products (crude oil) in the dug-up pits found around the creeks of the Niger Delta in line with the policy of the current administration on security and economy, as well as the preservation of the environment from negative hazards.”
Acting Solicitor-General of the Federation, Umar Mohammed, said the ministry in collaboration with other stakeholders have put in place a mechanism for effective and efficient management of illegally-refined products recovered from dug-up pits found around the creeks of the Niger Delta.”
“The responsibility of the inter-ministerial committee is to detect, report, evacuate, assess and ensure transparent disposal of the product with due consideration to the environment,” he said.
“The inter-ministerial committee shall be guided by the SOP, developed for the project. The content of the SOP is drawn from the provision of the Asset Tracing, Recovery and Management Regulations 2019.
Members of the committee are drawn from the ministry of defence, Nigerian Army, navy, defence headquarters, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), ministry of justice, ministry of environment, department of petroleum resources, and National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency
(NOSDRA).
