Blessing Ituma
To check illegal bunkering and pollution in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria, the federal government has been advised to legalize and regulate artisanal refinery.
A Niger Delta Advocate, Mr. Fyneface Dumnamene who made the advocacy in a Labour Summit in Port Harcourt said Nigerian government was losing over three billion dollars to illegal bunkering every month, when they could modernize those into artisanal refinery.
While noting that they were two sets of those syphoning oil in the region, Mr. Dumnamene said the ones that steal crude to refine could be utilized legally and brought into a formal economy where they would pay taxes and be regulated.
The Niger Delta Advocate observed that because the bunkers operate illegally; they are compelled to acquire firearms to secure themselves and territories for the fear of attacks.
Mr. Dumnamene called for standardization, innovation and legalization of artisanal refinery into the national economy as a way of improving the nation’s oil production.
