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Nigeria commander removed in oil theft probe Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-03-08T191410Z_01_L08326849_RTRUKOC_0_US-NIGERIA-OIL-THEFT.xml&archived=Falsehttp://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-03-08T191410Z_01_L08326849_RTRUKOC_0_US-NIGERIA-OIL-THEFT.xml&archived=False
Nigeria commander removed in oil theft probe: sources
Wed Mar 8, 2006 2:14 PM ET
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.
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