In the last decade, several unemployed and restive Niger Delta youth, who feel entitled to oil wealth in their domains, have taken to the creeks, puncturing pipelines carrying crude oil to Nigeria’s export terminal, and refining it using primitive methods.

Though the proliferation of this business seems to be filling the gap left by the country’s dysfunctional refineries as well as superficially enriching the communities, the level of ecological degradation to an already heavily-polluted environment is staggering. ABIOSE ADELAJA ADAMS, Bertha fellow, meets one of the camp owners.

https://www.thecable.ng/special-report-inside-niger-delta-creeks-where-the-youth-are-raking-in-millions-through-crude-oil-theft/amp?fbclid=IwAR2pFB4dS6cO28qW-M5EgHdfdj38eogZUz0T3jEQAidtQ0CbwsmXLYrfoY8

https://www.thecable.ng/special-report-inside-niger-delta-creeks-where-the-youth-are-raking-in-millions-through-crude-oil-theft/amp?fbclid=IwAR2pFB4dS6cO28qW-M5EgHdfdj38eogZUz0T3jEQAidtQ0CbwsmXLYrfoY8


His real name is not Barinada. But that is how he preferred to be addressed. He refused to be photographed or videoed. Initially, he refused to disclose the kind of business he was involved in. But after agreeing to be paid some fee, he opened up.

Attired in a brown short-sleeved shirt and a baseball cap drawn to his brows, he sat in an open-air restaurant with this reporter in his hometown in Gokana local government area of Rivers state, southern Nigeria. His look was suggestive of one on the run, for he had been, on several occasions, arrested by security operatives over crude oil theft. He fixed a confident gaze, but his hands were far from exuding confidence. They were as shaky as his voice which hung on the lowest key. When you talk of owners of artisanal refineries (popularly called ‘kpofire’) in Ogoni area of the Niger Delta region, Barinada is a major stakeholder in a business that has now become the alternative source of livelihood for many Niger Delta communities.

‘HUSTLERS BY DAY, MILLIONAIRES BY NIGHT'

In just one night, he earns between N1.3 million and N2 million — and between N39 million and N60 million in a month — for boiling stolen crude, which he sells to both host communities and tanker drivers who travel from as far as Sokoto and Kano in northern Nigeria.

“I have a barge. Inside the barge, I have drums that can contain the crude that I tap (from the federal line). The drums are up to 80,000 litres. If I can get this amount once a week, I am comfortable for the whole week. I will distribute the fuel to my five sites. I can boil from Monday to Friday and sometimes, I will still have leftover,” he said, repressing a crude smile.

Barinada has a well-organised criminal network of at least 25 boys who boil the crude oil every night at five different sites, which he calls ‘ the waterside’. According to him, the boys earn N5,000 per night of boiling which amounts to N100,000 in 20 days (approximately one month). Aside from those involved in the boiling, he also has boys who go into the river to burst the pipes where crude oil flows through the pipeline to the Bonny export terminal. After that, he boils at the five sites of his bush refinery, and then transports his final product to the end-user. According to him, he started with one site, and expanded to five, and still hopes to expand to ten.

“I told you I have five sites. Each site has one tank that can produce 25 drums of fuel (locally refined). I pay the boys N1,000 per drum. So, if they boil the 25 drums, that is N25,000. So, they will be sharing N5,000. With that, they are comfortable for the day and it reduces robbing, kidnapping and all that.”

https://www.thecable.ng/special-report-inside-niger-delta-creeks-where-the-youth-are-raking-in-millions-through-crude-oil-theft/amp?fbclid=IwAR2pFB4dS6cO28qW-M5EgHdfdj38eogZUz0T3jEQAidtQ0CbwsmXLYrfoY8


‘RUBBING SHOULDERS WITH SECURITY OPERATIVES'

According to Barinada, this business which he has been involved in for the past seven years, has lifted thousands of Ogoni youth out of poverty, and delivered them from social vices. He, however, said he cannot stop yet because he is helping the Nigerian government provide employment for the high number of unemployed youth. He is himself a graduate of civil engineering from Rivers State University of Science and Technology, who hopes to go into politics once he has made enough money from the business.

Comparatively, for these school drop-outs and unskilled teenage boys, an average of N100,000 per month is a lot of money. And it is three times higher than Nigeria’s minimum wage of N30,000.

It is not your business.

Zamfara youths are minning their audio gold themselves and cbn is buying it from them with same Niger Delta money

The so-called money they get isn't even up to a minimum wage if this country was functioning for a oil producing state youth

Criminals!

The crude oil belongs to Adamawa state.

https://www.thecable.ng/special-report-inside-niger-delta-creeks-where-the-youth-are-raking-in-millions-through-crude-oil-theft/amp?fbclid=IwAR2pFB4dS6cO28qW-M5EgHdfdj38eogZUz0T3jEQAidtQ0CbwsmXLYrfoY8

‘WATERSIDE’ OPERATIONS'

Barinada sent 16 of his boys to take this reporter to the riverside — a place called Mogho, in Gokana area. The river is the habitat of biodiverse aquatic lives, but owing to refining activities, it has become a lifeless waterbody. A 24-year-old who led the gang — ‘Virgin Boy’, as he is popularly called — dived into the river and swam towards the direction of the line. Anger, pain, frustration and total lack of faith in the government could be felt in their voices as the 16 of them, out of eagerness, wanted to speak at once. They said they have no potable water, healthcare, jobs and yet they sit idly on deposits of crude. They said they usually listen to the pressure of the pipeline to know when it is carrying crude. They also demonstrated how they use a rubber tube to connect to the line and pass it right into their bush factory.

Inside the bush refinery, the crude oil is initially stored in a well-dug pit in the ground, after which it is transferred into the tank. As soon as the operation begins, the massive tank containing the crude oil is set on an open fire that heats the crude. Beside it, is a humongous cooling tank which the oil passes through to the point where it is distilled into its fractional components. What comes out first is the gas — a huge amount of gas is being flared. Next is the petrol, and then kerosene, diesel, engine oil and lastly is coal tar (waste).

Barinada said he got the experience from palm wine tappers who make ‘ogogoro’ (local gin) from the same fractional distillation technology. However, the products from these local methods are not always at their optimum. For instance, very well refined petrol is popularly called, in the community, ‘dry fuel.’ There is the one called ‘wet fuel’ (not very well-refined and it is injurious to motor engines).

A recent research by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (NEITI) shows that this sector employed about half a million people in the Niger Delta, and the GDP is about three times the national average. Several Niger Delta youth interviewed said they are into the business because the government destroyed their habitat following decades of oil exploration. There is no safe drinking water in many areas of Ogoni; many people have become environmental refugees, while several have lost their major sources of livelihood — fishing and farming. Despite the government’s intervention in the region, there is a high level of mistrust, and disgruntled youth, tired of carrying weapons, have toed the path of bunkering and artisanal refinery.

Which one be stolen It is not our oil?
Since Zamfara gold belong to Zamfara People, Niger Delta oil equally belong to Nigeria Delta people...

https://www.thecable.ng/special-report-inside-niger-delta-creeks-where-the-youth-are-raking-in-millions-through-crude-oil-theft/amp?fbclid=IwAR2pFB4dS6cO28qW-M5EgHdfdj38eogZUz0T3jEQAidtQ0CbwsmXLYrfoY8


‘BUY YOUR FUEL HERE’

Taking a tour around Gokana in Ogoniland, it seems almost the whole community leans on this trade for survival. A little far-flung from the city, hardly any petrol station was noticed. It is common to see kiosks and makeshift filling stations comprising 25 litre-kegs, and some bottles of oil and a funnel. ‘Buy your fuel here’ signposts were commonly seen on the streets and markets.

Products from artisanal refineries such as Barinada’s meet the high demand for cooking fuels such as kerosene, as well as for powering generators, and motorcycles used as transport shuttles within the community. It is also cheaper than the fuel sold at recognised filling stations. At the filling station, petrol sells for N170 per litre, but fuel from these bush refineries sell as low as N100 per litre — this is about 80 percent lower in price.

And sometimes, Barinada and other refiners give out these products freely as part of their community service to the locals.

AFTER, DEM GO SAY BUHARI BAD







WHEN EVERYRAM IS BENEFITING





HYPOCRITES

Nwaotu10:
Criminals!

The crude oil belongs to Adamawa state.

Go and collect it and take it to Adamawa na.....





The South should just imagine if the North had even an Oil-well... They'd broken up since....



To them, they have food and meallt...If they have oil nko? Everywhere for be stew for them.....



They have nearly everything. And they're absolutely in control of their natural resources, but will never allow the South to control theirs.......



I wish this country could just break apart.

CONCLUDING AND FINAL PART OF THE REPORT

https://www.thecable.ng/special-report-inside-niger-delta-creeks-where-the-youth-are-raking-in-millions-through-crude-oil-theft/amp?fbclid=IwAR2pFB4dS6cO28qW-M5EgHdfdj38eogZUz0T3jEQAidtQ0CbwsmXLYrfoY8

HUGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT

Artisanal refinery operations contaminate an already heavily-polluted environment

While at Barinada’s bush refinery near the waterside, TheCable saw a cassava farm with very few crops. A greater part of the vegetation was soiled with oil and crops can no longer grow, yet a woman of about 47, Sira Ledum, was seen bent over, tilling the ground with beads of sweat on her forehead.

“They have spoilt this place. Every day, this place will be full of black smoke. When rain falls now, it will wash all the oil from that area to my farm. I have complained and complained. There is nothing we can do. Anything we see, we eat,” she said.

Another resident of Gokana, Emma Pii, told this reporter that he has been suffering from lung trouble. “When these ‘kpo fire’ boys start their thing, we cannot breathe again. All my chest will be choked, but what can we do,” he lamented.

A careful look at the area of operation shows a huge and pitiable degradation of the environment. There is destruction of vast quantities of mangrove forests which have been proven to be climate sinks, with the ability to sequester carbon more than the rain forests.

Also seen in the illegal refineries are huge amounts of coal tar carelessly disposed around the creeks, which are, consequently washed into the ponds and streams, killing aquatic life.

THE MORE THE CLEAN-UP, THE MORE THE MESS.

The black cooling tank inside the refiner’s camp

In its 2011 recommendation for the clean-up of Ogoniland, the United Nations Environment Programme, reports that one of the ways to restore the Ogoni environment is to provide alternative sources of income for the unemployed youth that burst government pipelines. A total sum of USD10,000,000 was recommended to provide alternative sources of income to artisanal refineries across the Niger Delta.

Barinada testified to the Nigerian government’s initial attempt to stop them from bunkering.

“In 2013, they told us they want us to stop this business and that we should bring our wares. So we brought all our pots and tanks, loaded it up to the sky. They said they will find us something to do, but nothing came out of that. They are only just using us to get what they want. They are not helping the locals, so we have to help ourselves,” he said.

WHEN WILL THIS POLLUTION STOP?

“It is when they settle the Ogonis that local bunkering will stop,” Barinada said. “They should settle us. Look at us, look at our water; all our farms have been destroyed. We cannot go and steal. We are making use of our property. It is the available means that we are using. We respect the federal government, that is why we run when they come after us. We don’t carry guns. We run; that means we know we cannot fight the government.”

Around 150,000 to 300,000 litres of crude are stolen daily, according to official figures from the government. Apart from the economic loss and the criminality of it, these activities — gas flaring (Nigeria is among the top six greenhouse gas emitters in Africa), huge deposits of coal tar seeping into arable soil, destruction of rain and mangrove forest covers, biodiversity loss arising from oil spills into rivers and creeks — have grave implications on the health and environment, and Nigeria’s commitment in the Paris Accord to contributing to a less warmer climate.

He is himself a graduate of civil engineering from Rivers State University of Science and Technology, who hopes to go into politics once he has made enough money from the business.

You can see it's only Politics that makes the equivalent to Oil bunkering without stress.

For me l view this from two perspectives:

1. The positive side - there is a huge problem of unemployment, high cost of petroleum products, youths restiveness, etc in the region, and these local artisanal refiners are one way or the other proving to be solution providers.

2. The negative side - there's a big environmental problem in the niger delta and these guys are adding to the problems.

SOLUTION

The solution is for a win-win middle ground to be found between the government and the artisanal refiners in form of regulations. Government gets revenues through minimal taxes from them and in turn they help government create employment, etc while reducing the negative environmental impact to its minimum.

God help us!

This one na certified idiot.
You just shot urself in d foot and exposed yourself

aran:
For me l view this from two perspectives:

1. The positive side - there is a huge problem of unemployment, high cost of petroleum products, youths restiveness, etc in the region, and these local artisanal refiners are one way or the other proving to be solution providers.

2. The negative side - there's a big environmental problem in the niger delta and these guys are adding to the problems.

SOLUTION

The solution is for a win-win middle ground to be found between the government and the artisanal refiners in form of regulations. Government gets revenues through minimal taxes from them and in turn they help government create employment, etc while reducing the negative environmental impact to its minimum.

Cc:
Mynd44
OAM4J
Lalasticlala

The environmental pollution that has been created since 1956 have you talked about it,?

Their waters for fishing has been polluted, their lands for farming has become toxic but you want them to starve in the already polluted environment

This brilliant and resourceful reporter should also take a trip to zamfara gold mines .

The oil belongs to them and not Nigeria. Nigeria is a mere geographical expression waiting to implode. investigate zamfara gold and leave Niger Delta alone fvck Nigeria

I give my blessings to this...even my cousins are into it... niger Delta oil is our resources others go to hell or move to zamfara.

This "illegal" business keeps many families in the South-South afloat, as they have been neglected by the government, neglected by the oil multinationals and killed by the military for having this same oil.

GayPontiff:
This one na certified idiot.
You just shot urself in d foot and exposed yourself

All what he said is an open secret to your law enforcement. Infact, they're complicit.

Lovely

There is no way I can blame anyone that actually knows how to take back from the federal govt

i will be back to comment on this.

Mehn people in government are moving from one error to another.

The solution to this problem is for government to create the avenue for people to legally exploit the resources cos this bunkering won't stop as long as the wealth doesn't get to the common man.

I support them

k

same energy report should be channeled to the North gold mines why is everything about the South and the North will always justify theirs

we move

No one is even talking about how the guys our refining the same fuel Nigeria spents billion to transport to Europe just to refine.Fg need to learn from him..

Mikehot:
It is not your business.

Zamfara youths are minning their audio gold themselves and cbn is buying it from them with same Niger Delta money

Thank you