Senator Ned Nwoko, Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment, has accused the military of destroying vessels apprehended for carrying illegal goods and stolen crude oil to conceal evidence of oil-related crimes, News About Nigeria gathered.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, Nwoko criticised the logic behind destroying vessels that could serve as critical evidence in prosecuting criminals.
Nwoko argued that destroying the vessels made no sense and suggested complicity and compromise among those tasked with preventing such crimes.
He compared the situation to a person found in possession of stolen goods and emphasised the importance of preserving and documenting the evidence to charge the culprits.
Such evidence would then be presented in court, and the stolen goods would ultimately be returned to their rightful owner.
He said, “What is the point? It does not make any sense.
“You know, if somebody is found in possession of stolen goods, do you say, oh, the way to deal with this is to destroy it? No. You take it from them, you document it, you preserve it, you charge the culprits.
“And then you produce that in evidence against them in court and then ultimately return that product to the owner.”
The senator, who is also a member of the Senate Committee on Upstream Petroleum, asserted that the only reason for the military’s destruction of vessels involved in crude oil theft or illegal oil lifting is to eliminate evidence due to possible compromise.
According to Nwoko, the lengthy process of loading vessels with crude oil implies that those involved must have had inside knowledge or connections.
This leads to questions about the role of oil companies, NNPC officials, police, and other entities in the process.
The senator raised suspicions about the sudden wealth of personnel within the joint task force involved in these operations, suggesting that they might have been compromised and therefore unwilling to wait for investigations.
