CDS: Military will go after crude oil thieves

Christopher Musa, chief of defence staff (CDS), says the military will go after crude oil thieves in efforts to restore full production.

Speaking to state house journalists after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, Musa said the days of perpetrators involved in infrastructure destruction and crude oil theft their are numbered.

He also warned that culprits would face retaliation from the military.

The CDS emphasised the need for collective effort to achieve success and called on all stakeholders, including states and communities, to work together to restore full production.

“Very well, as usual, you know Nigeria relies a lot on what we produce and his mandate, like we mentioned days back, is for us to restore full production. We are targeting 2.1 million barrels per day, which is achievable,” he said.

Musa acknowledged the challenges faced by communities, assuring that the president would address the issues to ensure uninterrupted oil production.

He said Tinubu is aware of the concerns of communities affected by oil production and has vowed to address their grievances.

“The President is fully aware of the cries and hues of the communities and he’s not going to let them down. The communities should rest assured that steps are going to be taken to address their grievances so that productions will continue,” Musa said.

“For the criminals, those ones that are hell bent on destroying our infrastructure, stealing our crude for whatever reason, the days are numbered. They should be rest assured that we’re coming after them. 

“I want to assure Nigerians that we all need to put hands together to achieve this success. Nobody can do it alone. No single service, no single individual can do this, we all need to work together, including the states.”

Nigeria’s average daily crude oil production increased to 1.27 million barrels per day (bpd) in June.