Controversy has trailed the bombardment of a vessel carrying barrels of stolen crude oil in the Escravos region of Delta State, south-south Nigeria.

Development Diaries reports that a video clip showing the bombardment of the vessel by a joint military team is trending on online, with many Nigerians questioning the setting ablaze of the vessel.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited had on Monday revealed that a suspicious vessel with a cargo of crude oil on board was intercepted by Tantita Security Services.

The vessel was reportedly set ablaze by a military helicopter at exactly 1.09 pm on Tuesday at a creek close to Bennett Island in Warri South West.

The vessel, it is understood, was traveling to Cameroon with the cargo when the captain and crew were apprehended on board.

Questions have been raised as to why the stolen oil was not recovered for the country’s use. Some Nigerians have also argued that the decision to set the vessel ablaze is a way of covering up the actions of the syndicate involved in the oil theft.

A major concern is the issue of environmental pollution in the Niger Delta.

Oil pollution can have a severe impact on the aquatic ecosystem because it forms a thin layer on the water’s surface that prevents oxygen from reaching aquatic plants and animals.

One million litres of water can become contaminated by just one litre of oil.

Already, Niger Delta, home to more than 6.5 million people who depend on fishing and farming, has been turned into one of the most polluted places on earth, with farmlands and rivers ruined from years of oil exploration.

The decision to set ablaze a vessel laden with oil on Niger Delta waters without consideration for the needs of the environment and the people is a wrong move.

Bombarding the oil vessel means Nigeria has lost another opportunity to know those masterminding this criminal act.

Also questionable is the fact that the identity of those in the vessel was not disclosed to the public.

There could have been a better way to deal with the situation to serve as a deterrent to others, rather than destroying evidence of crime.

In October 2022, a similar incident occurred and the ninth House of Representatives called for the investigation of the burning of an illegal oil vessel seized by the Nigerian navy.

Development Diaries calls on President Bola Tinubu to order a thorough investigation into the activities of syndicates siphoning crude oil.