administration of the former Head of State and president- elect, Major
General Muhammadu Buhari as they did to current and past regimes?
This question has become relevant because, barely four days after
Buhari was declared winner of the Presidential election, beating
incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, suspected militants have blown
up a major high pressure gas pipeline at Ighwrenene Community in Delta
State, warning the President-elect that he may have his hands full in
containing the economic sabotage.
The incident allegedly occurred around 2:30 am yesterday.
The economic sabotage was coming about one week after some former
leaders of the Niger Delta militants threatened to return to the
creeks and resume their war against the Nigerian state in response to
General Buhari's election victory over Jonathan. But Jonathan's quick
congratulatory message to Buhari even before INEC, the electoral body,
officially declared him winner doused tension in the land and forced
some of them to retract their words. However, yesterday's incident
made the situation hazy.
Also, a group of Urhobo youths under the aegis of Urhobo Gbagbako
yesterday claimed responsibility for the March 22, bombings of the
Nigeria Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, oil pipe lines in
Ekiugbo, Ughelli Local Government Area "on a massive scale." It said
that the aim was to give vent to their demand for pipe line
surveillance contracts.
Nigeria is almost a one- product economy with oil contributing to
about 90 percent of her wealth.
Late former President, Alhaji Musa Yar'Adua had to grant amnesty to
the Niger Delta militants who fought from the creeks to drive home
their demand for derivation and resource control in the country.
The Federal Government also approved 13 percent derivation as well as
other programmes aimed at cushioning the effects of degradation
occasioned by oil exploration for the oil producing states.
However, as at 10am yesterday when Saturday Vanguard visited
Ighwrenene Community, an official of the NPDC accompanied by two
mobile policemen were at the scene making frantic calls on how to
extinguish the inferno which was ravaging the area.
Another official attached to the Pipeline Surveillance Unit, PSU, in
the area who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that the
affected pipeline was a trunk line which convey the product from
Eriemu, Kokori, Afiesere, Uzere, West-End at Kwale, Ogini, Olomoro
and Owhe to the Ughelli Quality Control Center, UQCC.
Attempts by fire fighters from the NPDC, SPDC and the Delta State Fire
Service departments to extinguish the fire had not been successful
even as one of their trucks got stuck along the road to the scene of
the explosion making access to the spot almost impossible.
Meanwhile, the Commanding Officer of the 222 Battalion, Agbarha-Otor,
Lt. Col Mathew Oyekola told Saturday Vanguard that 15 suspects have so
far been arrested in connection with the incident.
Pipeline surveillance contracts: Urhobo youths commence bombings of
oil installations
In a statement yesterday, leader of Urhobo Gbagbako, Priest Omodjuvwu,
said the group carried out the latest round of bombing along the
Afiesere and Ekiugbo axis of the council area, during which it shut
down all the oil fields in Urhobo and Isoko nations.
Omodjuvwu said, "We have earlier warned NPDC and the Federal
Government on the pipeline surveillance contract to no avail.
''The contract is going on without the inclusion of the Urhobo, and
that is injustice being meted to the Urhobo, which we will resist to
the end. We need the pipe line surveillance contract now or the
bombings will continue.
"We have now commenced bombings of oil and gas installations in
Ekiugbo/Ighrenene/Afiesere areas and we will continue in an
unprecedented scale, until we get the pipe line surveillance contracts
in our area."
He also, added that the group's quest for oil contracts was immediate,
in the absence of which the youths would continue the assault on oil
facilities in their domain, without waiting for the expiration of the
14 days ultimatum earlier credited to it.
The Federal Government was said to have on March 16, reviewed its new
plan to safeguard the waterways and oil pipelines by allegedly
directing the Police and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence
Corps, NSCDC, to quit the job for some companies, which had been
signed on by the government.
Read more at Vanguard:
t.co/RGpKYoqNYg
No comments:
Post a Comment