Is This A Warning from The Men In The Creeks?

Are the Niger Delta militants posing a threat to the incoming
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.
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. Culled from Vanguard.