Ethics, Oil Theft And The Environment Of Nigeria’s Niger Delta

Oil theft has and is posing a serious challenge to Nigeria, her people and environment. Oil theft in the Niger Delta involves the illegal siphoning and draining of crude oil from pipelines of oil companies in the region. It brings about degradation of the land and marine environment, insecurity and conflict between oil thieves and security forces, and the quick wealth from oil theft has precipitated greed and some have abandoned their occupations and educational pursuits to enter the illegal oil bunkering trade. Though the poor developmental state of the Niger Delta, insecurity, and unemployment have precipitated oil theft; the fact remains that oil theft is unethical and a criminal activity. It is the unethical dimension of oil theft that is the main concern here and the need to combat it. The paper highlights the fact that oil theft is unacceptable and there is need among other things for moral rearmament to tackle it.