I pondered in this blog post, the difficulties in fighting crime when the people who are supposed to enforce the law are too often in league with the people who are breaking the law.
Quietly over the last few years, the Nigerian Armed Forces have been repairing their existing hardware and purchasing new hardware. Perhaps the mini-Oil-Boom of the 2000s played a role in providing the financing.
When I saw a BBC report titled Oil theft barge sunk in Nigeria , I initially assumed one of the Navy's new patrol boats and/or patrol helicopters had attacked and sunk an oil bunkering vessel. I was going to come here, praise them for stopping the criminals, but advise that in the future we try to capture (and impound) the ship rather than sink it.
And then I read the article.
Apparently, the Joint Task Force was in fact going to go after this particular bunkering barge.
Apparently, someone warned the crew of the barge that a JTF raid was imminent.
And apparently, the crew of the barge scuttled their own vessel (i.e. the crew sank their own ship), then swam ashore to "safety" and escape.
The end result? 2,000 tonnes of crude oil spilled into the coastal waters .... no arrests .... and no word yet on who tipped off the criminals.
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