Nigeria commander removed in oil theft probe: sources

By Tom Ashby

LAGOS (Reuters) – The head of the Nigerian military in the
oil-producing Niger Delta has been removed from his post on
suspicion of involvement in the theft of crude oil, government
sources said on Wednesday.

The removal of Brigadier General Elias Zamani, head of the
military joint task force (JTF) in the delta, is a vindication
for militants fighting the government in the southern wetlands
region. It could help free three foreign oil worker hostages
being held by them, diplomats said.

Militants have long accused Zamani, among other top
military officers, of being behind the trade in stolen oil,
known locally as bunkering, worth hundreds of millions of
dollars a year.

“Zamani was removed because of evidence that he is involved
in bunkering. Some of his soldiers are also indicted because he
didn’t do it alone,” said a government source involved in the
investigation, who asked not to be named.

It was unclear whether Zamani would face formal charges for
oil theft, the source said.

An army spokesman said Zamani was redeployed as a routine
measure and that he was not under arrest.

A second government source said Zamani’s removal came at
the behest of the economic and financial crimes commission, an
anti-graft unit which reports to President Olusegun Obasanjo.

A commission spokesman declined to comment.

Oil industry officials estimate that OPEC member Nigeria
loses about 100,000 barrels a day, or 5 percent of its output,
to a highly sophisticated international network of oil thieves.

The crude oil is siphoned from pipelines and wellheads in
the mangrove-lined creeks of the delta, loaded on to
ocean-going tankers and exported to refineries.

Zamani has been in charge of thousands of troops deployed
to the delta a spate of ethnic violence in 2003.

COURT MARTIAL

Two navy rear-admirals were court martially last year for
their role in the disappearance of an oil tanker used in theft.

Diplomats believe the trade is the root cause of much of
the insecurity in the delta, which pumps all of Nigeria’s 2.4
million barrels a day.

Ethnic Ijaw militants have kidnapped two groups of foreign
oil workers, killed more than a dozen soldiers and sabotaged
major oil installations over the past three months, curbing oil
exports by a fifth.

They are still holding two Americans and one Briton,
demanding more local control over the region’s oil wealth.

Zamani had accused the militants of being oil thieves, and
ordered helicopter gunship raids on barges he said they used to
ship the oil. The militants accused security chiefs, and Zamani
in particular, of being the real kingpins.

“Oil is not like diamonds and requires ships to come in
unhindered. This is facilitated by the heads of these security
organizations who are paid a standard fee for every vessel
loaded,” they said in an email last month.

Analysts say those behind oil theft are also involved in
politics in the delta, and use the proceeds to buy arms for
private militias. Corrupt government fuels anger and militancy
among the region’s impoverished majority, whose fishing
villages play host to gas flares and oil production platforms.

The federal government recently asked Britain and the
United States for a wide range of military hardware to tackle
the militant threat in the delta, but diplomats said they were
reluctant to accede to the request until Nigeria faced up to
official collusion in oil theft and poor governance.