The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has appealed to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to help tackle the menace of crude oil theft in the country, stating that no one is ready to invest in the oil sector due to the menace.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari, made the appeal at an interactive session with the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, at the NNPC Towers in Abuja on Monday.

In statement by the NNPCL spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, the company’s helmsman was said to have spoken about the efforts by the company to eradicate corruption from its system, to stem crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism.

Kyari had contended that going by the volume of oil stolen daily and the brazenness with which the perpetrators operate, crude oil theft was the most humongous and virulent economic crime in Nigeria that must attract the attention of the EFCC

He said, “As we continue to do our best to deepen transparency and stamp out corruption from the system, there is one big challenge that you will need to help us with, Mr. Chairman. That challenge is crude theft. It fits into everything you have said — the people, the asset, the opportunity, and the absence of deterrence.

“We have deactivated 6,409 illegal refineries in the Niger Delta region. Today, we have disconnected up to 4,846 illegal pipes connected to our pipelines, that is out of 5,543 of such illegal connection points. That means there are a vast number of such connections that we have not removed.

“These things don’t just happen from the blues. They happen in communities and locations we all know. As we remove one illegal connection, another one comes up. It is sad, Mr. Chairman.”