Fresh agitations threaten 2.1m bpd oil production target — Musa

There are indications that Nigeria’s quest to achieve a crude oil production target of 2.1 million barrels per day may be further hampered by fresh agitations in the oil-bearing communities of the Niger Delta region

Christopher Musa, chief of defence staff (CDS), who stated this while fielding questions from the State House journalists, after meeting with President Bola Tinubu, however, assured that the president was committed to addressing the communities’ agitations and grievances to ensure optimum production in the oil sector.

Statistics show that Nigeria lost about $720b between January and March 2024, as crude oil production settled at 1.23 million barrels per day in March, from the 1.78m daily production projected in the 2024 budget.

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The country had also projected crude oil sale of $77.98 per barrel.

The CDS stated that President Tinubu has given the security agencies a target to ensure that the country achieved a 2.1m barrels per day production.

Musa, who explained the challenges faced by the security forces in achieving the target, noted that “Nigeria relies a lot on what we produce and our mandate, like we mentioned days back, is for us to restore full production.

“We are targeting 2.1 million barrels per day, which is achievable. So, we’re taking steps to ensure that all that is required to be done is done.

He said the president was aware of the hues and cries of the communities and would not let them down.

“The communities should rest assured that steps are going to be taken to address their grievances so that productions will continue.

“We understand that communities are going through so much and the president is going to address those issues to ensure that we have full production.”

He, however, promised “hell” for the criminals, and those determined to destroy the country’s infrastructure.

“Those that are stealing our crude for whatever reason, their days are numbered. They should be rest assured that we’re coming after them.

“I want to assure Nigerians that we all need to put hands together to achieve this success. Nobody can do it alone. No single service, no single individual can do this, we all need to work together, including the states.

Kayode Egbetokun, the inspector general of police, while also speaking on the outcome of the meeting with the president, described it as a “routine security meeting”.

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“We’ve been doing this regularly. Mr. President is happy with what we are doing, he’s satisfied with our reports and he has challenged us to continue to work together and improve our synergy.

“As the inspector-general of police, I have the records of all reported crimes across the country and I can tell you that the crime rate is declining in Nigeria.

“Records don’t lie, the records are there. So, I can assure you that we’ll continue to do whatever we are doing to maintain the decline in the crime rate.”