- Leave now, Avengers warns oil workers
- 2016 budget impacted by renewed attacks, warns NNPC
Tobi Soniyi, Senator Iroegbu, Chineme Okafor in Abuja and Sylvester Idowu in Warri
President Muhammadu Buhari has finally
confirmed that his administration is in talks with Niger Delta militants
with the help of oil companies and law-enforcement agencies to find a
lasting solution to the insecurity in the region.
But as he said this, the Niger Delta
Avengers (NDA), the militant group that has claimed responsibility for
the recent wave of attacks on oil assets in the region, issued another
threat to oil workers, asking all of them to vacate the oil fields and
terminals because it was ready to wage a dirty war.
A statement issued in Abuja yesterday by
the president’s media aide, Mr Garba Shehu, said Buhari spoke of the
government’s engagement with the militants in the oil-rich region when
he met with the outgoing Ambassador to Germany, Mr. Michael Zinner, at
the State House.
Shehu also quoted the president as
saying that government was studying the instruments of the Amnesty
Programme inherited from the previous administration with a view to
implementing the commitments made, but remained undelivered.
Buhari assured his guest: “We understand
their feelings. We are studying the instruments. We have to secure the
environment, otherwise investment will not come. We will do our best for
the country.”
The president used the opportunity to
thank the government of Germany for its continuing support to Nigeria in
the efforts to tackle insecurity and the on-going rehabilitation and
resettlement of displaced citizens in crisis areas in the North-eastern
parts of the country.
The president also thanked Nigeria’s neighbours for their firm and unflinching support in the war against terror.
The German ambassador said that
bilateral relations between Nigeria and Germany had improved
considerably in the last 12 months of this administration.
He expressed the readiness of Germany to
assist Nigeria in the rehabilitation process in the North-east to help
displaced persons return to their villages.
He also expressed the eagerness of
German businesses to invest in the country, now that “conditions for
investment have been put in place”.
The German ambassador reiterated the standing invitation of Chancellor Angela Merkel to President Buhari to visit Germany.
‘Leave the Niger Delta’
But as Buhari assured the ambassador of
peace talks in the oil region, the Avengers issued another threat to oil
workers, asking all of them to vacate the oil fields and terminals
because it was ready to “fight dirty”.
The militant group, in a statement by
its spokesman, Mudoch Agbinibo, yesterday morning, specifically warned
the two major oil workers’ unions in the country – the Nigeria Union of
Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas
Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) – and foreign oil
company workers to leave the oil fields and terminals because “it will
soon be very dirty”.
“We are warning NUPENG and PENGASSAN to
leave all the oil field and terminals in the Niger Delta because it will
be dirty very soon. Foreigners are to leave too,” it warned.
The Avengers, which reacted angrily to
the claim by the Nigerian Navy that its logisitics supplier had been
arrested, described it as the biggest joker of the 21st century,
boasting that all its members were intact.
It upbraided the navy as having lost all
sense of professionalism by claiming that every suspect arrested is a
member of the NDA.
“As it is now any Tom, Dick and Harry is
a suspect of the Niger Delta Avengers. Nigerian Navy has lost all sense
of professionalism.
“The Nigeria military arrested school
students in Oporoza and called them the Niger Delta Avengers, any
criminal caught is NDA, even their business partners (illegal oil
bunkerers) with whom things went sour, are NDA, sea pirates are now
NDA,” it said.
The group also lambasted the military
for always denying any of its successful attacks on oil pipelines, only
for it to go after criminals and parade them as its members that
breached such facilities.
“When Niger Delta Avengers carries out any major attack they (Nigeria military) will deny it.
“First was the NNPC pipeline that was
blown, second the 48-inch ExxonMobil pipeline that was blown by NDA.
Mobil and the government denied it, only for ExxonMobil to declare force
majeure a few days after the attack,” it stated.
The militant group maintained that the
Qua Iboe export pipeline operated by ExxonMobil which was blasted two
weeks ago remained non-operational.
“Let me give a little brief about the
Qua Iboe Export terminal. This is a subsidiary of Mobil and it is the
biggest export stream in Nigeria. They export one million barrel every
two days.
“I Brig. Gen Agbinibo personally led
this operation. Unlike the Nigerian Chief of Naval Staff that sits in
the comfort of his office to pass orders,” the statement added.
The Avengers advised the military to
stop deceiving the public and its commander-in-chief and be truthful
over the Akwa Ibom blast instead of claiming that its operatives did not
blow up the pipeline, “but called it a system anomaly”.
“Shame on the Nigeria military. Reports
from our intelligence agent, the only way funds can be allocated to
various department of the military is only when they arrest the Niger
Delta Avengers operatives.
“But soonest, the Nigerian public and
their commander-in-chief will know that the military is not capable of
handling the Niger Delta Avengers.
“How do you explain a military officer having a house in choice areas in Nigeria and outside the country?
“Nigeria’s serving and retired top
officers are the richest people in Nigeria. How do they get such wealth?
Right now, they are using Niger Delta Avengers to defraud the Nigerina
government and tax payers of their money.
“We want to make this clear, all Niger
Delta Avengers operatives are intact, our intelligence agencies are all
intact and our operative teams are in high spirit because we are winning
the war.
“The Nigeria Navy can’t arrest any of our operatives until we bring down the economy of this country,” it boasted.
Tompolo’s Aide Confesses
But as the Avengers boasted about its
invincibility, a startling revelation was made thursday, when one of the
suspected members of the notorious group admitted that he had been
ferrying explosives for ex-militant leader and fugitive of the law, Mr.
Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo.
The suspect, Felix Ebiaedor, said to be
an Avengers’ supplier, was paraded thursday in Warri, Delta State, along
with five others apprehended for pipeline vandalism by the Nigerian
Navy after their arrest recently. One of the suspects was alleged to
have killed a naval personnel and a Nigerian Navy impersonator.
Ebiaedor said he was merely transporting
the explosives-making materials to Tompolo’s guest house in Oporoza,
Gbaramatu Kingdom in Delta State for some persons when he was arrested.
Ebiaedor was arrested along with Prince
David Oyafogha, said to be an Avengers’ mechanic while another suspected
kidnapper was identified as Ebiye Ozano.
Ebiaedor, who was reportedly arrested
with materials used for making explosives such as batteries and cables,
said he had been doing this since January.
“The cables and the batteries are
usually brought down to the waterside by Akpos, Rowland and Godbless,
and whenever they bring them like that they charter the boat and Stanley
is the name of the driver. They started early this year, in January.
“Whenever they bring it, we have a
driver that takes them down to Oporoza, to the guest house. The guest
house belongs to the ex-militant leader, Tompolo,” Ebiaedor revealed.
The new Commander of the Nigerian Navy
Ship (NNS) Delta, Commodore Joseph Dzunve, who paraded the suspects,
also told journalists that his command had destroyed five illegal oil
refining sites in the last two weeks.
Giving details of the involvement of each of the suspects, Dzunve said the suspects were arrested during different operations.
Speaking on the suspected militants, he said they were apprehended with incriminating evidence on them.
“One of the militants was arrested about
a week ago. He’s suspected to have taken part in the murder of a naval
rating sometime earlier this year. He’s also involved in the kidnapping
of citizens for ransom.
“The others are buyers of some of these
illegal refined products. They were caught when we went for an operation
last week. They are also suspected members of the Niger Delta Avengers.
“Felix Ebiaedor is a supplier of
equipment they use for the bombing of pipelines, while the other one is
the mechanic who repairs their boats which they use in conveying the
materials whenever they have problems,” he explained.
Dzunve said further investigations, when
handed to the prosecuting authorities, would reveal the extent to which
they took part in the criminal activities.
NNPC Bemoans Impact of Militancy
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has admitted that Nigeria’s 2016 budgetary
projections had been grossly impacted by renewed militancy in the Niger
Delta.
The state-owned oil firm also said
pipeline vandalism in the region had led to the curtailment of about
700,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Dr.
Maikanti Baru, disclosed this to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS),
Major-General Abayomi Gabriel Olonishakin, yesterday when he met with
the defence chief in Abuja.
He told the CDS that the country’s power
sector was equally impacted by the heightened militancy in the oil
region, and that from January to May this year, an equivalent of 1,447
incidents had been recorded in the country, resulting to a loss of the
equivalent of 109 million litres of petroleum products and the
equivalent of 560,000 barrels of crude oil to the nation’s refineries in
Warri, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna.
“CDS sir, as you may be aware, Nigeria’s
energy supply security is underpinned by a robust network of over
8,000kms of pipeline assets used in the transportation of crude oil,
petroleum products and natural gas.
“These critical national assets have
become the subject of incessant vandalism, theft and sabotage. The CDS
is invited to please note that the 2016 national budget plan was based
on 2.2 million bpd of crude oil production.
“However, the budget plan is now grossly
impacted due to renewed militancy, with about 700,000bpd of oil
production curtailed due to pipeline vandalism,” Baru said.
He added: “Domestic natural gas supply
to power is equally impacted with an estimated drop of about 50 per cent
from 1400mmscfd to barely below 700mmscfd resulting in significant
power outage exposure of between 2,500MW to 3,000MW as a result of
direct and indirect impact.”
He said petroleum products supply and
distribution pipelines had also suffered huge product losses with the
attendant cost of repairs and loss of revenue.
According to him, “For example, over
3,000 vandalism incidents were recorded every year from 2010-2015. In
2015 alone, pipeline losses of PMS volume of over 643 million litres
valued at over N51.28 billion was incurred.”
He noted that along with this menace was
the incessant case of kidnapping of personnel and piracy in the
corporation’s areas of operations.
“Other impacts of these despicable acts
include loss of lives, high cost of operations, refinery shutdowns, fuel
crisis and large scale environmental degradation, and the attendant
cost of oil spill clear-ups,” he added.
He said under his watch as GMD, the
corporation would commit to collaborating with the CDS and other
government security agencies to emplace lasting solutions to eliminate
the hemorrhage of losses, revenue deferments and energy security
threats.
According to him, “I will work to
strengthen our collaboration with the CDS and other government security
agencies in securing and safeguarding oil and gas assets.”
He requested that the CDS facilitate and
sustain personnel deployment to NNPC’s critical operational facilities
when required, provide support to its corporate and strategic business
units that require security presence to operate, and provide support for
the corporation’s re-entry into the Lake Chad Basin and Benue trough
for resumption of exploration and drilling activities.
“As part of current NNPC management
agenda, an internal Security Advisory Council (SAC) is proposed for
establishment to principally renew our strategies and the security
architecture and to regularly provide crucial inputs to the national
security team,” Baru explained.
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