Nigeria has banned 113 crude oil vessels from doing business in any of the 27 oil terminals within the length and breadth of the Nigerian territorial waters, local media reported.

The ban comes upon a directive from President Muhammadu Buhari to combat illegal trade in crude.

Buhari, himself a former Minister of Petroleum, has met the top hierarchy of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to express his concern over the huge impact of crude oil theft on the country’s economy.