Oil theft and insecurity in post amnesty era in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria: Implications on national security

The Amnesty programme for Niger Delta militants was introduced in 2009 to curb militancy, oil theft and insecurity in the Niger Delta region. Five years after, the rate of oil theft and insecurity in the region seems to be on increase which poses serious security challenges on Nigerian state. This paper examines the issues of oil theft and insecurity in post amnesty era in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria and its implication for national security. Secondary data was employed in the study and the paper identifies that the grave issues (unemployment, land degradation, resource control, underdevelopment, poverty) that led to militancy which resulted in oil theft and criminalities in the Niger Delta have not been addressed and thus, the Amnesty Programme is just a palliative measure. In the light of the above the paper recommends that the stolen oil trade problem must be tackled at its source which is unemployment and poverty