Illegal Oil Bunkering, Violence and Criminal Offences in Nigeria’s Territorial Waters and the Niger Delta Environs: Proposing Extension of Informed Policymaking

Abstract

While it illegal oil bunkering has gone on around the Niger Delta for about 30 years, it escalated more recently (2012 to present) thereby poses serious implications on many facets of in Nigeria economy, society, and environment. Government’s plan to eliminate it or drastically curb the crime has been hampered by inadequate knowledge of the scale of its occurrence in terms of the patterns expressed by its varying intensities or magnitude of its aspects over space, time, and structure. To achieve the objective of highlighting the recent escalation of illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta, this article examined issues helpful issues. It briefly reflected on recent studies of the phenomenal crime, its attendant geopolitical and geo-economic consequences on multinational economies and societies: Nigeria, UK, nations located close to the foregoing: European countries –on the one hand; Nigeria’s neighbors; Gulf of Guinea region- on the other. Other aspects that are briefly examined are: contextual explanation of Nigeria’s political economy, society, and related histories. Considering and comparing the recent estimation of the history of illegal oil bunkering of over 30 years with a recent study of the phenomenon over less than ten years (2002-2008), it is proposed that a study that extends the temporal scale of the analysis, preferably covering the entire life-span of the phenomenon is necessary. It is concluded that reckoning that the result of the shorter term spatial-temporal analyses study was robust, findings of the longer-term study promises to provide valuable information for strengthening public policy/programs for reducing oil theft in the region. Some aspects of the proposed study are outlined.

Keywords

• Spatio-Temporal Analyses
• Oil Theft
• Evidence-Based Policy
• Niger Delta