Armed soldiers
escort contractor, personnel and equipment to site
WARRI—THE Federal Government has ignored the threat of the Niger Delta
Avengers, NDA, not to repair oil facilities blown up by the militant group
during the period of conciliation for dialogue or risk resumption of
hostilities.
“We are going to redirect and reactivate all our activities if the
government, oil companies and their services firms do not heed these modest
warnings of not carrying out repair works and suspend the buying of crude oil from
our region, as we await the right atmosphere that will engender genuine
dialogue,” the militant group had warned on June 13.
This came as
suspected kidnappers waylaid the outspoken Ibe-Benimowei (Chief Mobilizer) of
Gbaramatu Kingdom, Chief Godspower Gbenekama and his wife at Effurun, Uvwie
local government area, of Delta State, but he escaped by the skin of his teeth.
Vanguard gathered that government was carrying out repairs on the Nigeria Gas
Company, NGC, pipeline recently destroyed by militants at Ubefan Creek in
Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-West Local Government Area, Delta State with a
heavy military presence.NDA bombed the said pipeline on Wednesday, May 26.
It
confirmed in a tweet, May 27: “At 11.45 on Thursday, @NDAvengers blew up other
NNPC Gas and Crude trunk line close to the Warri pipeline that was heavily
guarded by the military.”
Community sources confided in Vanguard that soldiers
were escorting badges, tugboats loaded with equipment and personnel heading for
the repairs of the damaged facility of a NGC, a subsidiary of the Nigeria
National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC,on Sunday.
Chairman of Kunukunuma
Federated Communities, Chief Moses Bebenimibo, who corroborated Vanguard’s
findings, grumbled that the contractor carrying out the maintenance, Melcurt
Nigeria Limited, did not involve the host community.
He sulked at the
development, saying that government did not consider his community hosting the
facility in any manner. Bebenimibo accused the Federal Government of being
interested only on the oil that flows in the communities and not the well-being
of the people, adding: “They are good in using the military to always
intimidate and subdue us in matters that affect us as a people from this end.”
Gbenekama, wife thwart kidnappers A Gbaramatu leader, Chief Daniel Ekpebide,
confirmed the attack on Chief Gbenekama, saying that he escaped from the gunmen
and his wife, whisked away with another person, later broke away too. “It is
like God put confusion in their midst,” he added.
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