It is said in the Nigerian military that you will never find a poor admiral. It is easy to see why. Nigeria loses between $4bn and $18bn worth of oil a year to illegal bunkering, depending on the estimates you use. This theft began at about 20,000 b/d. In 2001, it reached 200,000 b/d and it may now intermittently reach 500,000. On a bad day, 25 per cent of Nigeria’s oil exports are illegal. If the trend continues, new exploration will become impossible. Nigeria cannot afford to choke the goose that lays its golden egg.

The Niger Delta crisis started as a legitimate struggle by ethnic Ijaw groups with strong cause for discontent with the oil companies operating in the region as well as with the government. Then, in 1998, came the return of political parties which began to recruit militants to fight for them during elections. They sent these militants for training in other parts of Africa, Latin America and in Nigeria itself. They are experienced commandos trained and armed in many cases at the behest of state government officials.