Economic Saboteurs Behind Oil Theft In Niger Delta — FG
THE Federal Government, yesterday, blamed those it described as economic saboteurs for the vandalisation of crude oil facilities in Niger Delta region.
Director-General, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, Mr. Idris Musa, who stated this in Abuja, accused unnamed businessmen of masterminding the attack on oil pipelines for pecuniary gains.
Musa, who spoke when two civil society groups, Connected Development, CODE, and Oxfam Nigeria, paid him an advocacy visit, said: “An oil spill happened a few weeks back and we constituted a joint investigation visit to the place.
“The environment there is very fragile and the ecosystem is also fragile, so, it takes more than ordinary measures to do a clean up of such places.
“In most cases, people are not held because when people do it, they don’t wait. They break it and run. It could be a breakage to have an opportunity to steal oil; it could be a breakage as a result of annoyance; it could also be a breakage to create jobs for themselves and that is another dangerous aspect of the whole thing, because we have worked on this theory a number of times and brought it to the NNPC and other respective oil companies.”
He, however, assured that the government was ready to partner the civil society to ensure that the adequate protection of the environment.
Earlier, the Chief Executive, CODE, Mr. Hamza Lawal, harped on the need for a sustainable partnership between the government and the civil society to address the situation.
Also speaking, Executive Director, Oxfam Nigeria, Mr. Henry Ushie, charged the government to go beyond politically correct, but empty promises and make strong commitments to realistic policies.
