French Ship Impounded In Bayelsa for Stealing 8.5m Barrels of Nigeria's Oil

A French ship, MT Vannessa has been impounded by a special Naval team in Bayelsa. The ship has been stealing 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day from the country since June 9. According to SATURDAY PUNCH, investigations on Friday showed that six crew members, including two Britons; two Nigerians and two Togolese, were also arrested. A top naval officer, who pleaded anonymity, said the arrests were made at Brass Loading Terminal, Bayelsa State.

Since June 9, when it had been loading 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Thursday when it was impounded, the naval team suspected that the ship might have stolen 8.5m barrels of crude oil.

It was gathered that the suspects, who had made useful confessional statements, indicted some political office holders, many fuel marketers, some officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Department of Petroleum Resources.