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Nigeria to deploy 500 drones for surveillance of oil installations

Xinhua, June 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Nigerian government had concluded plans to deploy about 500 drones and aircraft for proper surveillance of oil installations in the country, an official said on Tuesday.

Ade Abolurin, the Commandant-General of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), made this known in Abuja, the country's capital city as part of efforts to strengthen its operational strategy.

Some drones had already been deployed on a test run basis in some areas in the Niger Delta region such as Bayelsa, to test its efficacy, he added.

He said the move was in line with the new administration's resolve to tackle the issue of oil theft headlong to boost the economic revenue accrued to the country.

The para military boss, who decried the spate of pipeline vandalism and oil theft in the country, said the corps was working round the clock to stem the tide.

He said the corps was exploring new ways to monitor and protect the pipelines, especially the use of technology and sophisticated gadgets to track down the vandals.

Stealing fuel from oil pipeline or taking oil from broken-down oil tanker truck is very common in Nigeria, Africa's leading oil producer. But mismanagement and corruption has also hit the refining sector, causing chronic fuel shortages.

The past few years have witnessed a string of pipeline explosions, with each killing at least dozens of people. Nearly 300 people were burnt to death in Lagos on December 2006, as they scooped fuel from a vandalized pipeline. Endi