Nigerian Navy Steps Up Patrols in Niger Delta to Curb Attacks

By Tony Tamuno

Aug. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Nigeria's navy has increased patrols in the oil-rich Niger Delta region to curb attacks by militants, said Rear-Admiral Bodunrin Raji.

The patrols have resulted in fewer incidents of crude theft in the region, Raji, the commander of the Nigerian navy in the region, told youth and community leaders from the states of Rivers and Bayelsa in Port Harcourt yesterday.

``The eastern naval command's efforts are geared toward a secure and peaceful maritime environment in line with Nigerian navy's role'' Raji said.

Violence in the oil-producing Niger Delta has cut more than 20 percent of the country's oil production since 2006. Some of the armed groups say they are fighting for a greater share of oil wealth for the region, whose inhabitants remain impoverished.

Nigeria loses at least 100,000 barrels of oil per day to theft, according to the Web site of Waltham, Massachusetts-based Global Insight Inc. A report commissioned for former President Olusegun Obasanjo estimated the amount of crude stolen by criminal groups at up to 300,000 barrels a day, according to an article published in 2006 on the Web site of the International Assessment and Strategy Center, an Alexandria, Virginia-based think-tank.

On Aug. 6, members of a naval patrol killed an unspecified number of militants, destroyed two boats and seized a third vessel following a clash with unidentified gunmen along the Cawthorne Channel, near Port Harcourt.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tony Tamuno in Port Harcourt via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.