By Patience Chat Moses
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has disclosed plans to acquire two aircrafts to combat crude oil theft in the country.
The Director of Operations, NAF, AVM Abdul Ganiyu, disclosed this at a meeting with the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee, which is investigating on oil theft and revenue loss by the Federal Government.
AVM Ganiyu told lawmakers that the training of pilots to operate the available aircraft and others being expected shortly was in progress and would be ready for deployment before the end of this month.
He called on relevant agencies with the required technology to “locate illegal bunkering sites and ensure they do not waste time in getting such locations across to NAF”, with an assurance that precision actions will be taken from the force bases to wipe out such sites and their illegal activities.
In its presentation, Nigeria Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) assured NAF of timely information on identified illegal bunkering sites through its highly sensitive monitoring gadgets.
On its part, Nigeria Middle and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (NMDPRA) blamed bulk of oil and revenue loss on measurement inadequacies at the production line as well as fuel dispensing stage for end users.