NNPC Open To Collaborations On Oil Infrastructure Security, Says Kyari

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)  has said it is open to any form of collaboration from recognized reputable organization to address the security challenge in the oil and gas sector.

This comes as the corporation and the National Institute for Security Studies (NISS) have stepped up inter-agency collaboration to contain the spate of insecurity of lives and property in the cause of the National Oil Company’s operations.

Nigeria reportedly losses about N1trillion annully to crude oil theft alone.  Hundreds of billions are also lost to product theft and infrastructural damage.

Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, while receiving the delegation from the NISS at the weekend in Abuja, said that security of workers and capital-intensive equipment in the oil and gas industry were critical areas of priority that would always attract the corporation’s management attention.

In a release by the Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Kyari, who noted with dismay the frequent attacks on the nation’s oil and gas facilities, said the corporation was open to any form of collaboration to check the security challenge.

“As you are aware, a number of infractions had happened to our assets across the country and our staff have become key targets of many kidnap attempts and even physical issues around the security of our staff. So, security is an issue for us and were engaging on a number of interventions to ensure the safety of our staff and material assets.”, Kyari stated.

The NNPC’s helmsman stated that the corporation remained exposed despite being the custodian of critical national assets, even as he challenged NISS to think out of the box in restructuring its training programmes to accommodate short courses tailored to Industry needs.

“Every management staff of this company should be aware of security of our assets and also personal security. However, sometimes having a nine-month programme may be a deep challenge in releasing all category of staff to attend. I think what we can do is to restructure the training plan to possibly create a room for short courses targeted at the Oil and Gas Industry specific categories of employees,” he said.

Earlier, the Institute’s Commandant and leader of delegation, Mr. Ayodele Adeleke, stated that his group was at the NNPC to seek partnership in area of security of the nation’s oil assets.

He disclosed that the Institute, which stands at par with National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) and Nigerian Defence College (NDC), was prepared to offer security training and research services to the corporation.