SERAP Takes FG To ECOWAS Court Over Oil Theft
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project SERAP, has sued President Muhammadu Buhari to court over what it described as failure to probe the operations of illegal oil pipelines between 2001 and 2022.
In a statement, SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, says the federal government also failed to name and prosecute those suspected to be involved, and to recover proceeds of crime.
The statement explains that the suit followed recent reports of the discovery of 58 illegal oil pipelines used to steal the country’s oil wealth.
“The stealing is reportedly carried out through the illicit pipeline connected to the trunk line via an abandoned pipeline, and linked to a location in the high sea, where they load crude oil into vessels and sell overseas,”.
SERAP is also asking the ECOWAS court to compel the President to fully recover any proceeds of crime, and to respect, protect, and fulfil the human rights of the people of Niger Delta that have continued to suffer the effects of oil theft by non-state actors.
The statement adds that the illegal pipeline operations constitute a gross abuse of international human rights obligations to ensure the proper, effective and efficient management of the country’s wealth and natural resources.
