BUHARI: Suspected militants fire first warning, blow up main gas pipeline in Delta
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.
The companies were reportedly owned by some former Niger Delta militants
and prominent citizens including Government Tompolo; Mujaheedin
Asari-Dokubo, Chief Bipobiri Ajube (aka Gen. Shoot-At-Sight) as well as
the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, led by Dr. Frederick Fasehun and Gani
Adams.
About seven companies were said to have been allocated “regions” or
operational areas as follows: Egbe Security River One (Bayelsa); Gallery
Security (Mosinmi -Ore); Close Body Protection (Edo State); Adex Energy
Security(Rivers) ; Donyx Global Concept(Lagos and Ogun); Oil Facilities
Surveillance-(Delta) and New Age Global Security (Mosinmi-Ibadan).
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), it was said, would coordinate the jobs.
Nigeria has been battling with huge revenue loss due to vandalism of oil and gas pipelines.
Dokubo threatens to resume militancy in response to Buhari’s election victory
NIGER Delta militant leader Asari Dokubo had threatened to return to the
creeks and resume his war against the Nigerian state in response to
General Muhammadu Buhari’s election victory over President Goodluck
Jonathan.
On Saturday, Nigerians went to the polls to elect a new president and
Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC, beat incumbent President
Jonathan of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP. This was even as the
Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, sent Buhari a
congratulatory message, saying that Nigerians made the right choice.
However, Mr Dokubo, who earlier promised to unleash violence on the
country if President Jonathan was not re-elected, promised to return to
the creeks, blaming the Yoruba and Hausa for working against Ndigbo and
Niger Deltans.
Source: Vanguard
BUHARI: Suspected militants fire first warning, blow up main gas pipeline in Delta
Reviewed by Adegunju Uthman
on
April 04, 2015
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